Bitch Varsity

WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?!

2010-05-13T00:53:00.001-07:00

www.bitchvarsity.com

I'm MOVING

2010-04-19T01:15:00.000-07:00

WILL BE GETTING A DOMAIN. SEE YOU BITCHES! :)

It's More Than Just Ruffa Vs. Kris

2010-03-11T10:58:00.001-08:00

If you have not heard about the fiasco about Ruffa Gutierrez’s walking out at the set of last Sunday’s The Buzz because Kris Aquino made a comment about her transferring to another station (“Aminin mo, mas masaya dito!”), well then you might be one of the last ones to know about it. (Good thing it’s in Youtube. Search it.)

There are times when Kris can be really insensitive and tactless and sometimes at the point of verbally bullying but I think it was also partly Ruffa’s fault for being such a pushover at times.

Well I understand Ruffa. If you grew up in a household that’s brimming with Annabelle Rama, you really can just be one of the two extremes: a ditzy pushover or a headstrong vixen. Speaking of Annabelle Rama, she also said on a show that Ruffa once cried because she was so fed up with Kris Aquino always interrupting her when she talks.

To you, Kris Aquino, it’s rude to interrupt and that’s just it. No rocket science. And to you Ruffa, try to stand for yourself sometimes and grow thicker armor when you know that you’ll be facing the likes of Kris Aquino on a weekly basis. Now, I’m not sure if Ruffa has talked to Kris about this or not, but if she just stood up for herself and demanded the kind of attention and treatment that she deserves, I’m sure Kris will get the message.

Also, it’s best that both of them need to think of the show as a whole before becoming too emotional. If something like this happens again, or happens to YOU, dear reader, try to keep your cool and be patient. If you are in the middle of yet another round of useless ranting or tactless unsolicited comments, calmly change the subject or tell that friend gently that you are not comfortable with what’s being discussed or that you’d like very much to speak and be listened to until you really have spoken your mind out.

Lastly, it’s best to stay strong. I saw the actual episode where Kris was making the comments and then Ruffa said “Tama na Kris, don’t rub it in. I’m sad about it too.” However at that point, Little Miss Chitty Chat still kept on talking about it! Ruffa was obviously at the point of crying and she looked really hurt. I know it’s just work but I’m sure someone like Ruffa treats showbiz work as a big part of their lives (it’s a career for God’s sake!) and she know that work can be filled with forced relationships and (read:) forced relating. If you show them that you’re afraid of something, the self-esteem predators will not think twice about assaulting you.

So if you’re like Ruffa, who has made a bold move and signed a contract with another station (because let’s say it’s true, that she doesn’t like the way Kris treats her and this affects her productivity as an artist) stand up for that and be firm about it. When you’re on the other side of the fence, you’ll see.

And that’s it. It’s more than just Kris vs. Ruffa. There are other hidden bullies in our lives and we must learn to stand up to them and be strong. Don’t let anybody bully you.

If all else fails, learn black magic. Haha just kidding!

How do you stand up to a bully? Got a bully story? Email me at live_out_loud@ymail.com. ♥

The Art of Power Lunching

2010-03-03T20:28:00.000-08:00

I am an extremely busy person. And no, I did not italicize just to sensationalize. I juggle many hats and I attend to different parts of my life. I work here, here, here, here, here, here and somewhere else. Sometimes I’m here and sometimes I’m not. Sometimes I’m a writer and sometimes I’m not. There is no definite badge for me. Because I’m leading jam-packed days, I’ve finally mastered the art of power lunching.

See, I have always believed that eating is one of the highest forms of glory. Teachers, warriors, leaders, artists, children and laborers all stop to eat. And you probably remember what our elementary school teachers told us: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day; therefore you should not miss it.

Even when that statement still holds true for me, now ten years older and a few years wiser, I have also come to the conclusion that for a busybee like me, lunch is also an extremely important meal. Just think like this: if you want to stay upbeat and thinking right until around the time that you’re about to sleep, you must eat lunch, because it’s the breakfast of the second part of your jam-packed day.

And so here comes the Messianic solution: POWER LUNCHES.

Power lunches are lunches which are high in carb and sugar, and yes I recommend it because it works. You’re going to use them up later in the day anyway. Here are some tips for effective power lunching.

1. When you eat, REALLY eat. Do not surf the net, do not text incessantly, do not chat too much. Savor all the flavors that land on your tongue and just before you eat, smell the aroma of the food to keep your appetite running. They say that eating involves more than the sense of taste. So indulge in everything—sight, smell, taste and touch, if you must.

2. Don’t hurry. For people who are always on-the-go, it’s easy to take lunches which are hurried. In fact, I’ve fallen into this trap long ago and just ordered to-go Chinese food because they’re sticky and I don’t have to chew that much. LOL, imagine! If you hurry, you won’t be able to really feel that you have eaten and the ending is that you don’t really feel fulfilled and after a few minutes you’d have strange cravings.

3. Drink luxuriously. Finish off with a lovely drink. I always make sure that I finish off with softdrinks everyday but I keep the dosage at half a bottle (around 100-150 ml). Sometimes, I treat myself to ice cold mochaccino or a choco macciato. This seals the power lunch and the self-bonding and it also doubles as a dessert time so you end lunching feeling pretty great…and so you become productive for the rest of the day. (Yes, it really works, skeptic.)

So those are my two cents for free. One last tip though: try as much as you can to eat what you want. If you are tight on budget, maximize it. Remember, also, that your goal is to truly fill your stomach. So don’t do with fancy lunches such as very light pasta or salad if you know that you’ve got 1874927429 things to accomplish for the rest of the day.

Let me know what you think. And let’s go over it via lunch. Via a power lunch.

You Can Never Be Too Thin

2010-03-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

My bestfriend, who, I bet, has a below 27” waist line, claims she’s fat.

Upon hearing this, I turn to my side and look at the mirror across me and see how “fat” she really is. And how “fat” I must be. You know what I think? If that’s fat then Bea Alonzo must be obese.

My best friend is not alone. I know thousands of other girls out there who are actually underweight and still claim they’re fat. I’ve read somewhere: you can never be too rich, or too thin. And I believe every single word. In a world where stick-thin airbrushed models are treated like royalty in terms of beauty, there is really no other way to go but the skinny way.

Needless to say, I cannot put into words how alarmed I feel whenever I also fall into this trap. There are just some days that I think my tummy is bigger than it’s supposed to be. Yes, even when the jeans I bought four years ago still fit me perfectly. Well, I blame media for this! Haha! (And why, I’m part of media too, am I not?)

The thing is, are overdosed with images of “beautiful” people in small waistlines, like having a weight and “body proportion” requirement for every regular beauty pageant in town. Now THAT, plus a hundreds of new slimming pills, procedures and food products which promise a more “beautiful” you once you take sign up under their program. And when we’re exposed to this kind of image overload, we will forever associate being thin with being beautiful and feeling good.

I won’t come all Messianic and self-righteous by saying all those hypocritical magazine cliches (read: “You are beautiful in any size or shape!” and then powder the rest of their pages with malnourished looking girls with smoky eyes.). BUT my advice is, try to learn to really love your body as it is and exhaust its potential. I don’t have a perfect body, and it took such a long time embracing it, really.

Get this: I don’t have long legs, big breasts, a big butt, abs, long fingers. If that’s not enough, my skin is also not perfect. BUT this is the body which helps me achieve the things I have to achieve and it makes me productive. Whenever I contribute something good for myself and for others, it makes me feel good. And I won’t say I’m not doing something about it. I make sure that I dress well. Because I’m skinny (and I think I’m skinny enough) I wear skinny jeans and flattering blouses. My work also requires me to become on-the-go so I just wear flats and love all five feet and two inches of me. Most of all, I make sure that I’m clean and I smell good all the time. Does that sound difficult to you? Of course not.

So today--and I guess this goes for the rest of my life--whenever I look at the mirror, I like what I see…though it took me a long time getting here! (By the way, I tuck my tummy in every now and then. It’s less effort than exercise! Haha!)

Do you also believe that you can never be too thin?

The Best Investments I've Ever Made

2010-02-23T18:27:00.000-08:00

If you remember, a few months (and about a hundred realizations) back, I talked about the best and the worthiest investment that you will ever make. I talked about how you should invest in your name, your reputation and the network that you work with. For me, I got to places with a clean name. It works the same way for everyone. Also, I remember screwing up on something a long time ago and my superior told me “your name will eventually catch up on you”. So since then, I learned how to be 100% professional and I got to take care of my name. Besides, we all know that people will always remember your mistake (and not your success) all the time, don’t they?

However, aside from a good and clean name, there are also other investments that I’m happy I made. Here are the ones at the top of my head:

1. Eyeglasses – For four years, I’ve been running on a -3.00 grade. Yes, I’m nearsighted and it sucks. However, recently, I just found out that it has simmered down to -2.5 and I just changed glasses and contact lenses. It takes a long time to land with the perfect glasses and when I finally got it, I took care of it like it’s my own child. (BTW, the perfect glasses are those which fit you well, look good on you and has powered UV shields.)

2. Dark skinny jeans – I never spent a lot on clothes…until I got across dark colored skinny jeans. You know the fashion mantra “when in doubt, wear jeans” right? Well that’s just about it. But for me, for one who wears jeans everyday, jeans are really investments. I bought one which costs only P350 at a tiangge just because it looked good on me. For less than three months, the pocket got ripped so I can’t put coins at the right pocket. FAIL. Now I make sure that I buy high quality jeans…and keep my waistline at 25 (or 26).

3. An All Around Phone – During my last birthday, I bought a chic new phone for myself. It was LG KS360, a really good looking, slide up QWERTY phone. It was like the ones you see on Gossip girl. However, as time passed by I realized that it wasn’t as fast as I wanted it to be, the camera is not as good and it hangs up everytime I wanted to type fast. (Sad, I know. QWERTY phone my *ss!) So I sold it off to buy a SE T700 phone, which is pretty much like everything I could ever want. It’s a mid range phone that’s slim, light, fast, has a high memory ceiling, a great camera with a flash and great sound. It’s the love of my life.

4. BB Cream – I will never get tired of talking about BB Creams. If you are not familiar with BB Creams they are like all-around bases, they work as a moisturizer, foundation, sunblock, concealer, anti aging cream and a treatment cream in one! I think it was Skin Food which released one of the first BB creams here in the Philippines (aside from Korean brands, since BB creams are such big hits in Korea) but I find Maybelline BB Cream just perfect for me.

5. Comfy Strapped Rubber Sandals – I have what my colleagues in school refer to as a “lounging job”. For them, it means a job that I love, which doesn’t pressure me, which requires me to work at my own pace, and yes, wearing whatever I desire to…as long as it’s decent. So for work, I am allowed to wear those strappy rubber sandals (which can often double as slippers). They can be pricey (Ipanema, Havaianas, Sanuk, etc.) but they’re really comfy and stylish. I can wear them everyday!

Aside from quality haircuts and a condominium, these are some relevant bits the things I spend for. (I’m still working on the condominium part, LOL!)

How about you? What are the things that you are willing to spend for? Email me at live_out_loud@ymail.com. :D

On Waxing

2010-02-14T19:31:00.000-08:00

So EFFIN' PAINFUL
...but so EFFIN' WORTH IT.

Waxing Tips:

1. If you're a first time user, be sure to read about wax and waxing in the internet. (One point for you coz you're here.)

2. Remember that hot wax is really painful, like melted candle wax poured on your skin. So be ready for this.

3. Of course waxing hurts. Remember that. Just make sure that you make it quick. Strip off with fury! \m/

4. It's better to use Substance 20 bond papers than waxing strips. It strips off more hair so you get the most out of one strippin'.

5. If you use cold wax, seal it tightly and throw away your waxed papers well. One of the major ingredients of cold wax is sugar so it tends to attract ants.

6. Yes you can actually do home bikini/ Brazilian waxing. I recommend cold wax. Afterwards, it's also best to wash the area off with a mild feminine wash. It will turn red but that will only last for less than an hour. :) (Whew!)

7. Be patient. Depending on the thickness of your hair, you might have to wax one area over and over again until it is 100% clear.

Fun Things to Squeeze In During Lunch Breaks

2010-02-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

I LOVE MY LUNCH BREAKS. I just love the idea that food / eating is one of the highest form of glories. I mean, warriors, teachers, priests, students, politicians all stop to eat. That makes eating a really powerful activity (um, literally too) because it makes us realize that we are all, after all, just human. Attached with this glory, lo and behold, the corporate world RESPECTS lunch breaks.

Whenever I have my lunch break, I don’t really eat lunch. I spend it doing other things which are not work-related. And then I get through the day with a smile on my face. I’ve come up with a list of my favorite things to squeeze in during lunch breaks.

1. Chatting with a good friend. This can also be your officemate/ colleague too. Chatting about simply anything—fashion, relationship, hobbies—makes you touchbase into another person’s soul and lets you bond properly. Surely there are other more exciting things than spreadsheets and deadlines and the clients breathing down your necks. Chill. And as for your good friend, if you can’t see each other in person, drop a quick call or indulge in a text-fest.

2. A mani-pedi. Whenever I’m inside a salon, I really feel relaxed. No, wait. What I meant was, I feel like a queen. I make sure that I go to the posh salons because their services are really above par and the attendants won’t size me up like vultures (or at least they do it more subtlely). A mani-pedi only lasts for 30 minutes. If the place is not too busy, request for two attendants to attend to you at once. When you get back to your office, you’ve got some color jumping on your keyboard. Really chic! Bonus: Mani-pedis are really cheap here in Davao.

3. A fabulous drink. No, I’m not suggesting anything alcoholic here. Just a drink which makes you feel better and luxurious. Overpriced fancy coffee? No problem. A fruit shake? Better. For me, it’s Twinings tea in Four Red Fruits. Really relaxing and makes me feel good. Smells good too! Indulge in liquid goodness to help you get through the day feeling good.

4. A fun/ inspiring video. If your office has internet access, then spend the rest of your lunch break by viewing funny/ inspiring videos. If you want, you can even squeeze in one or two episodes of your favorite TV series. I shamelessly admit that my key to blah-away days are one or two episodes of The Hills. Yes, that’s right, the one with the superficial super rich blondes who are always crying over the same men and backstabbing each other. I guess it’s inspiring to know that I’m much more productive than them. And so are 2047298472394 other girls I know. (The numerical figure is a joke.)

5. Cat nap. Why, this is one thing that you should really try but not overdo. Power naps are great when taken at the middle of the day; just be sure that you’re one of those people who are comfortable just leaning over your table and keeping your feet flat on the ground. For shame-free naps, keep your face faced down on your desk and set a cellphone alarm so you can go back to work on time. And don’t forget to gargle with mouthwash after. Tee hee!

6. A Quickie. NO EXPLANATION NEEDED.

See? My even my lunch breaks help me become more productive at work. When you feel good, there is a high likelihood that your output is really good too. Good thing my office does not behave like a corporate leash. Haha! Try some of these out and see the difference. You’ll be surprised how half an hour of me-time can do so much for your well-being.

♥

Beauty and Wellness, For Longer

2010-01-29T18:40:00.000-08:00

Truly, life isn’t getting any better for us Filipinos, especially when you talk about money. That is why we need to scrape every penny that we own and invest it in things which are worth investing in. We spend for food, shelter, education, security, and others. In the category I just referred to as “others”, toiletries are classified under that.

So to save up on these not-so-essentials, here are some tips from a budget-conscious “kikay”.

1. Shampoo - Buy everything in bulk. The bigger the container is, the bigger your savings will be. The ones sold in sachets and in smaller containers have higher overhead cost, but the content is the same anyway. For as far as your grocery budget can bring you, buy the biggest body wash, shampoo, conditioner and lotion bottles there are. And you will save a lot in the long run.

Bonus: You also save yourself some emergency trips at the convenience store because you'll be running out of toiletries for much longer.

2. Foundation/ Tinted Moisturizers - It's best to get them in liquid/ gel/ mousse form, because you'll actually need to apply less of the material. They spread out really well, and evenly so you only use less, as compared to powder/ cake foundation. Just be careful with the blending.

Bonus: You don't need to use a puff or a brush to do the blending, and it usually lasts longer and spreads thinner so you get a more natural look.

3. Lipsticks/ Lip gloss/ Lip balms - When you apply a lip product, just do so at your lower lip and just press your lips together to spread out the color. Ta da! You just extended its life up to twice. Moreover, if you have old lipsticks, old lip balms and even old lip glosses, you can melt them all in a microwave and store them in a little container, like those Body shop lip balms. New shade, new shelf life! What a steal!

4. Mascara - It's best to buy waterproof mascara with a winner brush that won't smudge and won't clump your lashes so you don't have to reapply and use more material. Also, the more time you spend in applying mascara means more time leaving the lid open, which dries it out faster. When you are finally done, screw cap very tightly.

Bonus: Don't bother applying for your lower lashes. Also, by following the tip above, you save time.

5. Powder - Choose something light but long lasting, something shine-free also. This way, you don't have to retouch as often. Also, stretch your pressed powder's life by not removing the plastic which lies between the puff and the actual powder. This prevents the puff to constantly rub on the powder and in the process "steal" some powder.

6. Perfume – For your Eau de Toilette and Eau de Parfum stocks, just spray/ apply on areas where your pulse points are, for that is where you will maximize the scent exuding through you. Also, if you’re running out of perfume, just add a few drops of water and pour it on your body lotion. That way, you still wear the scent and you’ve just made the most out of your expensive fragrance.

7. Blush on – It’s best to get the one in gel forms because they blend very easily and you can just put them on-the-go. They create just the correct dewy coverage, and they can last for a very long time because you only use a little and they’d spread well (like those foundations). My 8 gram gel blush lasted for four months of everyday use!

Those are the things which just come off at the top of my head right now. If you have more suggestions, you can email me via live_out_loud@ymail.com.

Indeed, beauty comes with a price. But who says it’s non negotiable?

Want to be an AWESOME GRAPHICS DESIGNER?

2010-01-24T19:57:00.000-08:00

Everywhere we go, we are flooded with man made images, more commonly and collectively referred to as Graphics Design. We see them in the gigantic streetside billboards, in public service announcements, in job postings, even with graffiti. It's obvious this industry is getting bigger and bigger; as evidenced by numerous graphics design companies here in Davao city. (And why, yes, the rest of the world too.) And as the popularity and competition of this genre is getting thicker, will you let yourself become engulfed in the sea of pros?

So if you are interested in joining this industry but you don't know how to start from scratch, the best thing that you can do is to enroll yourself in a short course about graphics design and digital art in general.

Now if you want to the pro way, you've got to learn the it from the pros! Cube Pixels Design Studio is home to many awesome graphics designs--logos, web design, layout, name it. They offer a comprehensive Photoshop and Corel workshop for only P3,500 individually. If you get the package workshop (that's Photoshop + Corel) you can avail it for only P6,000.

And what's more, you can have your schedule's say! You can choose from an everyday schedule, a biweekly or a triweekly arrangement. Still in school? No problem! Have a full time job? No problem! The sessions only last an hour or so, every 6pm. You will be starting your course with theoretical discussions on Basic Graphics Design (with the usage of Photoshop and/or Corel) and then after a few sessions, you'll be clicking the mouse and creating your very own designs...of course with the guidance of your trainer/s.

Give their portfolio a look-see: www.cubepixelstudio.com. And you will see how much you'll be getting out of your money's worth. Enroll now! :)

EMAIL ME FOR INQUIRIES/ DETAILS: live_out_loud@ymail.com or give them a ring-- 225.0362 :)

The Loner Profiles

2010-01-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

We know them, we see them all the time. Sometimes we care about them, sometimes we pretend to. Most of the time, they’re just like fleeting ghosts in our everyday drill. Nobody really knows them but they don’t appear to care. We call them loners, oftentimes, replacing the middle N with an S. But who are they really? And why do they have some sort of a social allergy?

Here are some compiled profiles of these so-called loners.

1. The Extremely Shy One. There are certain loners who grew up in an environment where human interaction is not really encouraged. For example, when they were kids, they were told by their parents to lock themselves up in the bedroom when there are visitors. When they were left with a group of people, they were told to not talk to anyone. So then they cannot look at the eyes of the people they just met, they keep their hands to themselves and continue to dwell on corners.

2. The Intellectually Arrogant. They are the ones who have some noisy worlds in their head, telling them that they are far more intelligent and brilliant than everyone else. They opt to not talk to most people because they think that most people can’t say anything worthy of listening anyway. Although they speak with some selected people (the ones who they deem to be worthy of their time) they are usually hated by most people anyway. When they speak, they are usually condescending and when they don’t, they’re most probably curled up with a big book and a big name on it.

3. The One With the Bad Reputation. It’s simple really. They’re alone because no one likes to hang out with them for fear of affiliation. Perhaps they are the ones who have stolen the class money weeks ago, they’re the ones who screwed up your marketing team’s winner proposal or they’re the sellout writers who leaked your feature article ideas to the no-good magazine which was able to publish them first. Hmm. This is challenging. I don’t have any idea what they have in their minds, really. But I’m guessing it’s among regret, lack of apology or indifference.

4. The Weird One. People don’t talk to them because they’re not understood. The luckier ones are tagged as “artists” (fondly?) because they are into things which most people cannot appreciate instantly. For example, an obscure visual art, obsession for some weird-sounding music (along with equally weird-looking musicians) or a semi-humiliating sense of fashion.

5. The Techno-crazy. This might be the child of everything aforementioned, but these techno-crazy kids deserve a loner profile of their own anyway. They’re the ones who are always glued to their cell phones, their portable gaming gadgets, their application-filled ipod-touches or other what-have-yous. They isolate themselves from the world so the people around them also do not feel the incentive to pound through their barricades and try to get to know them. (Hmm, unless they’re really good looking, I guess.)

Are you one of them? Well you better not be. There is NO supplement for human interaction. Need some help overcoming your getting-to-know fears? In for some more loner kwento? You may email me at live_out_loud@ymail.com.

New Year's Resolutions (?)

2010-01-10T21:12:00.000-08:00

You know how it works, guys. It’s a new year, a new leaf turning over, and we are most willing to accommodate those little lifestyle changes which are intended to better ourselves. We call them New year’s resolutions. Sometimes, it’s because it’s the momentum for change (for the better), that’s pushing us to do so and sometimes, it’s just plain old pop culture eating us up.

So now it’s the first week of the year and we’re already feeling a little bored over our “resolutions”. And because I’m with you on being bored, I’ve come up with a list of the most famous resolutions which never get used anyway---aside from being ANOTHER recycled resolution for the next year.

1. Diet. Always at the list of Top New Year's Resolutions. Okay, eat healthy, eat right, eat less.. Those are just a few things that we promise to ourselves. But then again, we all know that eating NOT the way we want to is really a difficult thing to do. And yes, anytime of the year. However, there is also no doubt that a lot of us are not contented with the way we look or weigh and we want to do something about it. So even if our hearts are not really into dieting (hey you can get back to that anytime of the year) we just go with the resolution bandwagon and claim “to diet” as our New Year’s resolution. Boo. My advice: slowly trade your current craving with healthier food. If you’re hungry, eat a fruit. Drink less softdrinks, drink more water and try your very best to love vegetables.

2. Save. Even when you spent more than ten years in school and more than ten years of allowance-handing, a lot of us still are not good with budgeting. This is why when we graduate college and finally start earning money for ourselves, we still end up short of cash often. Then we borrow from friends or we scrape every penny we can find. The thing is, financial stability and frugality needs a lot of discipline. The best time to learn about it is NOW. And not when the calendar becomes replaced. Don’t take the cab unless you really have to, don’t spend on weekly manicures, buy the things you need first, and the wants later, and most of all, save a portion of EVERY bit of money that you receive (somewhere that’s really hard to access).

3. Quit smoking/ drinking/ gambling. Those are the three most famous vices that a lot of us are into nowadays. We take the New Year as an opportunity to give ourselves a chance to undress ourselves of these little chains that bind us into spending for things that we don’t need and are even dangerous. But then really, once you are hooked into it, it’s difficult to detach yourself from it. My advice: do not become overwhelmed by the New Year hype and start quitting smoking/ drinking/ gambling for real slowly. Just start doing it less and less often until you quit the habit.

4. Relax. For most of us who lead very busy lives, we tell ourselves by the start of the year that we won’t spend the entire year as stressfully as we ended the last one. We promise ourselves that we will relax once in a while and will spend more quality time with the things that really matter in life—like passion, relationships and a happy home (as opposed to paychecks, commissions and boss’ approval). However, a lot of us don’t really take this into heart because we are too caught up by work and we have been hard-programmed to treat it as our top priority. My advice: get a regular time to relax. Start with Saturdays and/ or Sundays.

So that’s it for blah resolutions. Are you currently sporting one? Update me on the developments, alright? I’ll be waiting--- live_out_loud@ymail.com.

Bitch Varsity Captain's New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-01T20:49:00.002-08:00

It's not like it's gonna resolve anything. Whatever.

1. Walk more. As I have very little time to exercise. (More excuses to go shopping! *happydance)

2. Get less professional manicures. Utterly useless and the good ones are expensive. Just keep the nails clean, short and buy a fabulous manicure set for at-home touch ups.

3. Focus on writing career. Beat (not meet!) deadlines, read books/ articles about writing (you can never write too well!), ditch underpaying clients, contribute more material for print publishing AND read more. Be more picky with projects.

4. Write poetry and become seriously seduced with it again.

5. Improve professionalism. Be on time, always look presentable, amp up charisma.

6. Reconnect with old friends. Cheezy but it's a feel-good thing.

7. Save every P10 coin I can find until it goes out of the circulation. What can i say? BWAHAHA.

8. Surf the net for useless stuff less often. And update this blog more often. (I told you, I'm going to focus on my writing career!)

9. Quit stressing about people you can't change. They'll die anyway. Be patient.

10. BE FAITHFUL WITH EVERYTHING PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED.

♥
Bitch Varsity Captain

How to Throw a Kick Ass Party in 48 Hours or Less

2009-12-18T00:34:00.001-08:00

(Now, how about that for an article title?)

The holidays are just coming around the corner and they have no plans of slowing down! It’s deck the malls today, and you just can’t wait to go to all the parties which have been bleeding red on your planner! However, you won’t always be the visitor all the time. Sometimes, you also have to throw your own party—whether it’s by peer pressure or sheer gratitude—and boy, it ain’t that easy.

However, with everything that’s instant today, you can make do with a fabulous holiday party with a few quick and easy tips. Read on.

1. Set the mood. When people enter your place, or even as early as they are looking for a parking space in front of your home, they should already feel the Christmas spirit or the festivity brewing around the area. If you don’t have time to clean up the place, at least de-clutter. Fill the place with cheap (or not!) decoration and brighten up the place.

2. Spend a little time on making a playlist of upbeat and contemporary Christmas songs and when the party mellows down, switch to some piano and/or acoustic melodies. Working on this playlist will just take an hour tops. With fast internet today, all those downloading would be done in a jiffy.

3. Fake home cooking. A big chunk of what really makes a party cozy is the food. The truth is, you can make do with good old lechon manok (rotisserie chicken) and just put it in a nice looking plate. To make it look extra special, try to steam vegetables or put fried potatoes on the side. There’s also powdered gravy sold in the market. You can place that on the side for that extra gourmet feel. Sometimes the plate makes all the difference. Imagine takeout chopsuey, pansit and baby back ribs in a very regal looking plate. Imagine grilled meat on a banana leaf. Now THAT’s what I’m talking about.

4. For posh cocktails, don’t serve chips but instead, prepare cheese, little sandwiches, salami or even buttered French bread. Carrots, lettuce and cucumber also makes for a great salad, the “healthier” cocktail.

5. Serve champagne/ wine. Isn’t it good that you can purchase them now from convenience stores? They promise a lovely time and some space for great conversations in between. Unlike beer. But if the boys complain, then simply order beer from the sari-sari store at the corner! No sweat!

With these quick and easy throw-a-party tips, you won’t be left wondering what to do to make your party fabulous and memorable while on a very tight time schedule. Just remember that days before the party, you should organize your calendar well.

And don’t forget to take pictures! :) Email me other posh ideas at live_out_loud@ymail.com.

The New Zabadani Coffee Shop

2009-12-14T19:56:00.000-08:00

I’ve been a long time visitor of Zabadani Coffee Shop when it was still a quaint little coffee shop in Rizal. I used to meet up with a lot of people there--people from the art circle (digital artists, film makers, photographers, writers, etc.), old friends, new friends, work mates-- and we end up spending a lot of time there not only because the place has such a unique interior design, but because the layered coffee is undoubtedly the best in town and the prices are great for “budgetarians”.

Back in Rizal, it was just a little place, with geographical descriptions of “just a door” when people new to it try to locate it. True enough, it sat beside Whaw Lechon House on Rizal st. and yes, it was just a door. This is because back then, Zabadani was located at the second floor of the block’s big structure and you can only access it through one front door. Then you ascend a small flight of staircase, and with the first tread, you will smell the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Instantly, you will know that you have come to the right place.

Aside from their wonderful reputation for really yummy treats, Zabadani also doubles as an internet café. They have computer units where you can surf the net for only P10 an hour. Personally, I liked going there to surf because the monitors were nice and the keyboards were soft. (How shallow.)

But of course, I loved the net surfing way later. Here’s the real kicker:

Zabadani coffee shop boasts of their extensive menu of layered coffee blends, tea varities and even flavored soda. If you’re in for a caffeine fix, some relaxing warmth or some sparkling sweetness, Zabadani is truly the place to go. Kuya Wadi (as he is fondly called), Zabadani’s owner, is a friend to many Zabadani patrons and he won’t let you down the beverages without something to munch on. Zabadani also offers chocolate and oatmeal cookies, a choco-mousse cake, blueberry cheesecake and their famous Bruschetta.

One very remarkable thing about Zabadani coffee shop that doesn’t involve your gastronomical affairs is that the place itself is very homey. There are lush carpets on the floor where you can sit and/ or lie down, soft lighting by the Moroccan lanterns and a mini library of (mostly) Islamic literature.

Today, the new Zabadani coffee shop stands at the heart of the city, at Ponciano Reyes st. Davao city. It is almost thrice the size of the old Zabadani, and its menu seemed to expand as large as the space! As I write, the newer PC units are coming in, more people enjoyed the large large carpeted platforms and there are more lanterns lighting up the place and giving my face a fake glow. Haha!

Now I will surely spend more time at the new Zabadani coffee shop. Just one year down and Zabadani’s thrice in size. I wonder what’s coming in for the next year. Hmm, I’d have more time to ponder on that. For now, let me finish this heavenly Mocacchino first.

What is Organic Skin Care?

2009-12-10T19:15:00.000-08:00

A lot of us read the word “organic” in a lot of sources. We find it in the vegetable section of the grocery. We find it even in food packets. We also find it in the labels of the beauty products that we already use and the ones which we are considering of using, because of the “organic” claim.

However, do we really know what organic means? How does it make our skin care regimen a better one? What IS organic skin care?

First, to understand what “organic skin care” is, we’d have to get to know the word organic first. (As “skin care” is easier to understand.) Organic means, according to the Oxford dictionary, the “prodcuced and involving production without use of pesticides, artificial fertilizers or any form of synthetic chemicals”. With that definition, would it be possible to day that all the products which were labeled “organic” really hold that characteristic? I don’t think so.

A lot of marketing people in the skin care department simply use the word “organic” as a come-on for their products. Instantly, when you see the organic label, you sort of trust the product a little bit to do wonders for you. Also, another way of confusing consumers is by labeling their products as having “organic ingredients”. Then they will site a natural ingredient in its purest form. For example, olive oil or coconut oil. They may be organic but remember, there are other chemicals in that beauty product. And that is far from “organic”, mind you.

Organic skin care refers to a beauty regimen which uses only organic products for the pursuit of a healthier skin or the maintenance of healthy skin. For example, the usage of pure honey for your hands’ moisturizing and sugar for exfoliation. Both of these examples only use products which are natural and/ organic. They are safe and they are healthier since it’s nature’s powers working through your skin.

Also, if you want to buy developed beauty products which are preferably organic, simply look for the “certified organic” label along with the seal of a reputable drug association. Most likely, that product is really a certified organic product and it is safe to say that if you use that, you are religiously following an organic skin care routine. Remember, without the label which says “certified organic” whatever that’s labeled organic may be deemed simply meaningless.

Dating for Workaholics

2009-11-30T22:47:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of people in different industries who seem to have just little time for recreation, let alone dating. Also, “I’m busy” holds to be a very good excuse for someone who hasn’t done much dating lately. Well, let those days be gone! Here is a quick guide for dating workaholics, or dating when you’re a workaholic.

1. Are you really a workaholic? The first step is to determine if you’re really a workaholic. Psychological studies show that all the “-holic” tendencies (shopaholic, alcoholic, chocoholic, etc.) means a compensation for something else. So if you are a workaholic you’d have to admit it to yourself. Do you ALWAYS work the extra hours? Do you have a job (a department, a boss and a company) which demands excessively from you? Are you struggling to get promoted, or get a “regular” status? Try to track if there’s something wrong in your chosen career and try to lessen it or kill it. If you can’t then work with it and make sure it’s not long term.

2. Prioritize well. If somebody puts you off because they’re “too busy” then it means that they are working on other things but not on you because YOU ARE NOT A PRIORITY. Yes, that’s the cold hard truth guys. BUT if you use the busy excuse to put off dates, well, you might have an issue with yourself. Maybe you’re not really ready to date and you just need a quick way out. Also, if you have more than one date lined up for the week/ month, try to prioritize which are the ones which are more important. If you are with just one partner, remember the more important dates and determine which the best dates are for your partner to enjoy them the most.

3. Pay attention when you are on the date. Put off your Blackberries and your laptops. Hey, if you really wanna land with a partner, you better pay attention to the potential ones. Dates are the perfect times to balance your work and your personal life. When your date is talking, listen to them. Observe. Affirm. Get to know them truly. Do not half-listen while running in your mind the next-day tasks. Switch off work mode and immerse yourself in the moment. Also, try not to talk about work with your date. It’s nice to share funny and charming anecdotes but no complaining/ nagging please. If you think that you have found someone to go serious with, or have already gone serious with this person, take a breather from your day job and send them an email or a quick text message saying that you are thinking of them. Communicate well. It might sound like so much of an effort to you, but really, it’s worth it.

4. Start a life outside work. If work eats up most of you, then they must have eaten the best of you already. Avoid this by starting to have a life outside work. Pick a hobby that you’d be glad to improve and invest (not spend) a lot of time working on it. Also, try to broaden your horizons by having fun activities with people who are not from your office. It will really take your mind off work because you will talk about, laugh about and even argue (in a friendly way) about different things. So when you’re out in the dating market, you are not that boring old folk who is always talking about work and people from work. Yes, no matter how funny they are. Besides, getting out of the office is, by common sense, the best way to meet NEW people. That is, if you’re still single, okay?

Okay now workaholics, those busy excuses are all disqualified now. Enjoy dating and cherishing one very good investment—a long lasting relationship.

On the same breath, please do not use dating as an excuse to slack off at work. Haha!

Let me know what you think, workaholics. Email me if you’re not working (or dating). Live_out_loud@ymail.com.

No TGIFs Anymore

2009-11-22T16:57:00.000-08:00

Is it T.G.I.F. too soon? If you haven’t heard about T.G.I.F., it means “Thank God It’s Friday” and it has been used in the American corporate lingo for a long time in the intention of mocking a boring and seemingly meaningless job. Today, we are lucky that more and more workplaces have dedicated their time in efforts for positive psychology in terms of jobs and profession. Basic human resource management would tell you that the higher the person feels his morale is, the better he will be in doing his job. As I write, more and more offices are being renovated and rebuilt to induce a juicier and a more fun workplace, so work doesn’t feel like work at all.

Together, we move forward into a society of people who truly love and enjoy what they do and at the end of the day, institutions accomplish their goals and we build a whole new culture of fulfillment.

In the field of Positive Psychology, work may be categorized into three groups: jobs, careers and callings. The first category is the “jobs”. These are the things which we spend a lot of time and effort on but our only motivation towards doing the work is merely salary. There is no passion; everything feels like manual labor. No work, no pay; and no pay, no work.
On the other hand, careers are the kinds of jobs with a mixed reward system: salary + advancement. In careers, there are goals to be met and there is the promise of prestige through dedication. People who dedicate themselves to careers often get promoted and with the same amount of devotion, they will eventually get to the top.

However, once they are already at the top, they won’t feel the same vigor and challenge anymore and the career will subsequently wither and turn into a (sigh) job.
The last category is the “callings”. As the name implies, it is a calling, a purpose which pulls you towards fulfilling its reason. The rewards are more internal and they provide meaning in our lives. Most callings require special talents or characteristics, like the ones involved in arts and literature. They motivate the individual through sheer being and you, as a worker, will feel like you can do the work without pay, promotion or other forms of compensation. Callings are the dream jobs.

When you find satisfaction in your job, you can easily turn it into a calling by finding the meaning in it and commending yourself for every successful task that you accomplish. Try to see what makes your work special and how you can also motivate other people to do better in what they do, or choose to do what you do. What is inside you, that you can relate to the work, that you consider a gift? You can easily see the difference between jobs and callings. For example, teachers who treat teaching as a job will be moody, inconsiderate and will talk to the students only about lessons and anything school related. But a teacher who considers teaching as a calling will give extra effort when making reports, have a special way to deliver lessons in class, and will treat every student like it’s his or her own child.

If you put some cheer and genuine dedication in the work that you’re doing, you will end up being a more productive worker and not long, you will receive recognition. Everything will look more vibrant when you go to work in the morning and the intrinsic motivation will continue to develop.

So if you’re already in a job that you’re happy about, kudos to you and continue to pour devotion into that job. Not everybody has their dream job under their noses. But then again, it’s always ALWAYS a matter of choice.

Lemme know what you think--- live_out_loud@ymail.com.

What do I Love? MERCO'S MELON BASKET!

2009-11-15T06:05:00.000-08:00

So my date and I went to Merco to get our lunch last Saturday and then we were craving for a great dessert treat so we picked out Melon Basket. It was such a heavenly delight!

Merco's Melon Basket was made of a watermelon cut in half, with zigzagged edges, filled with cubed watermelons, sliced bananas, three ice cream scoops (you may choose from vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, mango and ube) and topped with whipped cream. It was truly a wondrous treat because the watermelon was so sweet!

This is not the first time that I ordered Melon Basket and it's charming to find ground peanuts at the top of the scooped ice cream sometimes. It was a choir of colors and an orchestra of sweet sensations. I salivate just thinking about it! :)

So anyway, if you decide to swing by any Merco branch soon, you may order their Melon Basket at the affordable price of P130 only. Enjoy! And don't forget to drink lots of water...or you'll end up swallowing painfully. Tsktsk.

It's The Climb: Of Social Climbing and Social Climbers

2009-11-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

According to an entry in a famous online dictionary, a social climber is someone who “seeks advancement to a higher social class, especially by obsequious behavior”.
Social climbing is such a crime to mankind; and I cannot imagine of a more miserable existence than that of the social climbers. So while you are worrying about which projects you’re going to do first the next day, or whether your husband from overseas is really going to call, somebody not far away is thinking of what to wear tomorrow just so s/he can impress the people around him/her.

Everything, really, about social climbing, boils down to one thing: acceptance. People climb the climb because they want to be accepted. They are not contented of what they have or who they really are and they aspire for something that they view as higher forms of beings than themselves (richer ones, smarter ones, more popular ones). Some can be as mild as stretching stories and some can be as severe as committing crimes like stealing and deception.

Although it’s sad that some people can really have these forms of existence(s), we really cannot change the way some people view the world. For me, I am contented of what I have and who I am. If there’s something I want to achieve, I work hard for it and I don’t take credit for what I did. If I know someone who is exactly like me in terms of financial, intellectual and physical capacity BUT sees the world in a different way (“there is always someone better, I have to be like that”) then life is nothing but and endless climb.
The truth is, what led me to writing this article is that I recently became acquainted with certain people who went through lengths just to keep up with the crowd. One person stole from the company he’s working at, another went from rich lover to a richer lover, in search for the best shoe/bag/make up/allowance provider, and another simply told lies about his affiliations. Sad. Sad. Sad.
So I wore a keener eye on such people and found that they may be classified into three different categories:

The Exaggerator

These are the kinds of social climbers who may or may not earn big or know people of impressive affiliation; it’s just that they are fond of stretching stories. For example, she adds another P5,000 to her monthly income, says she went to a more expensive salon after you compliment her hair rebonding or perhaps says that s/he got this designer something at full price when in fact, it’s just a bargain from the internet or from ukay-ukay. They exaggerate everything and they get their fix from the wonder that you innocently show in your eyes once another story impresses you. If you spot these people ASAP, it’s easy to please them. Just act like you’re impressed. They feed with your wide-eyed wonder for the rest of the day.

I Know Who

Now these kinds of social climbers are not like the ones who are fond of shiny things and good looking assets. They are the ones who claim to know key people in a certain industry. For example, in the local writing scene, some writers claim that they personally know Ms. Editor in Chief and Mr. Hotshot Novelist even if the closest that they got to them was through a seminar and they barely even spoke. They act like they’re also part of the crowd-to-beat in a certain industry. They spend their mornings trying to impress people with the other people that they know and they spend their nights scouring Facebook for the next famous person to add.

See My Tag

These kinds of social climbers are filled with nothing but brands and tags. They get their fix from owning things which are beautiful and up-to-date. I know certain people who own really good looking cellular phones but then again they always ask me to text somebody for them. There are other people who even have plasma TVs in their living room sets but then they are not sure where they’d get the next tuition fee of bunso. Tsk tsk tsk. This is social climbing that is anchored on materialism and people from this category may not really need your impression, they just wanted something shiny under their noses.

So that’s it for social climbing today. I hope that all the social climbers out there will find something better and more worthwhile to do. (What are the chances that they might be reading this article?)

And, on a different note, I recommend the book “Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber” by Adele Lang. I just remembered reading it months ago and it was one hell of a fun ride.

Email me your thoughts about social climbing—live_out_loud@ymail.com. Or you can follow me via www.bitchvarsity.blogspot.com

Bitch Tip # 6: Exfoliate Your Lips

2009-11-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

As long as something is classified as skin, it will eventually shed off because skin renews every 30 days. (Approximately, the epidermis is composed of 30 superposed cell layers.) This means that a new batch of cells are produced by your basal layer each day and the entire epidermis is REMOVED after 30 days. Like your scalp, your lips are considered "skin" too that is why you need to exfoliate it to keep it looking vibrant.

When you are about to end brushing your teeth, lightly brush your lips to get rid of the dead skin cells. Do this at least once a day and you will have smooth, exfoliated lips all the time! Also, finish off with a great lip moisturizer/ balm like Chapstick, Body shop, Blistex or Burt's Bees.

Now when you wear your rock shiny lip gloss your lips will surely look oomph-mazing! :)

♥
bitch varsity captain

Sailor Mercury for a Night!

2009-10-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

So I attended a cosplay last night and boy, it was super fun!

I portrayed Sailor Mercury because our hair style is similar and incidentally, from 15 years back, I really adored her and gave her the status similar to angels and saints. I had stationery filled with Sailor Mercury, a Sailor Mercury body bag, Sailor Mercury bed sheets and I always cheered for Sailor Mercury during Sailor Soldier fights. Whew! :)

I realized that cosplay can be such a stress-reliever. Our cosplay was a company party, and since I work for a graphics design company, we had to be really visually appealing. So cosplay it is!

I posted my pictures in Facebook and a lot of my friends complimented me in my costume. I'm actually thinking of REALLY investing in a slammin' costume. So, what do you think? Sailor Mercury or no Sailor Mercury?

Chun Li is also a very strong runner-up. Lemme know what you think.

♥
bitch varsity captain

On Switching Careers

2009-10-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

As far as I can remember, I really wanted to become a writer. Now that I am a full-time writer, I must say I’m happily settled and I don’t want to veer away from this industry again. Oh, did I say again? Yes, I did. The thing is, when I was in high school and college, I was still writing on the side but then I pursued different interests. In fact, I took up Marketing in college because I actually thought that the world of marketing, advertising and public relations is for me.

Right after I graduated, I had two jobs, one for the government and one for a Montessori school. Both needed my business course background but then it took me a long time before I decided to switch careers and become a full time writer.

It wasn’t that pay was bad, it’s just that when I was working for my two previous non-writing jobs, somehow a part of me was missing, and so even when I had a great office, a great uniform and great people around me, I kept on looking at the local classified ads.

After my gig at the Montessori school as an Executive Assistant, I tried looking for different jobs. I lurked around hotel management, VISA processing, merchandising, etc. just so I can find my “happy place”. But then I cut the chase and decided to write full-time. I was a freelancer for about a month and then I made up my mind. I’m glad I did, though.

As you can see, it took me a very long time to finally decide where I should settle. Here are some things which I treated as a career-switching checklist when I decided to switch careers.

The 8-Year Test

Picture yourself eight years from now. Do you see yourself still happily settled in the job that you have now or in the career that you have in mind? Again, the key phrase here is “long term”. If you want to switch careers, that means that you want to forego something in light of another, so it better be worth it, right? Five years is too short, and ten years may be too far off. So eight years it is.

Industry Stability

When the latest worldwide recession hit, most of the jobs which were lost were connected with merchandising and finance. The jobs which weren’t that much affected were the jobs in health care and in education. How recession-proof is your chosen career? Since you will be thinking long-term, assess how sustainable your industry is. The industry I’m in right now (full time) is internet-based. I realized that the internet will only get bigger so I settled here.

Does it Make You Proud?

If your job lets you have a sense of purpose? Do you feel like you “belong” with the people around you? Does your job make you proud? If you answered “yes” to all of these, perhaps it’s really a good choice to switch careers. There’s nothing like having a job which doesn’t feel like a job at all to make you realize the better things in the professional world and in life.

Switching careers is not as easy as it happened for me or as easy as how this article makes it sound like. Decide wisely, weigh your options well and never forget that the key phrase is “long term”.

Got some career-switching stories? Email me at live_out_loud@ymail.com.

What Women Do Better Than Men

2009-10-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: I am an advocate for gender equality. Enough said.

1. Evolve. There are studies which are concerned with evolution and how we look which proved that, indeed, women evolve to be hotter. Researchers have noticed that the more attractive women deliver more children (16% more) than the less attractive ones and there more female children for these women. When these good looking girls grow up, they will also have more female children and this is a pattern we really can’t help.

2. Survive. In a study about car accidents, there is a 77% more likelihood for men to die than women. (Is this the reason why we always nag men about wearing the seatbelt?) Moreover, more women survive suicide attempts and more women also got to keep their jobs when the recession recently hit the world. The less affected industries were those which are female-dominated, like healthcare and education.

3. Live. Yeah boy, we don’t just survive, but we actually live longer. A whopping 85% of people who are more than 100 years old are women.

4. Graduate. Yes, we actually go through education until college and are more likely to finish it than men. In fact, even enrolment says that women top men in the education arena. Also, there are more men which stagnate in college. Bah!

5. Eat. A recent study conducted by the University of Minnesota just reveled that women eat healthier than men. While men usually think that red meat, beer and pizza will pump their malehood, women were eating fruits and vegetables to keep thin. Also, our only known guilty pleasure is eating chocolates, which are still healthy, by the way. Maybe this is also the reason why women have stronger immune systems, aside from our secret weapon which is estrogen. (BTW, Estrogen contributes to the strength of our bodies’ frontline defense against viruses and bacteria.)

6. Lead. Another psychological study revealed that women make better leaders because we are multitaskers, better mentors, great listeners and problem solvers. Is it the “mother instinct”? I have no idea. But we keep the income statements stellar! Which leads me to…

7. Invest. With over 100,000 portfolios studied, the investment returns that women get are higher than men’s by up to 18%. Perhaps this is because women are better decision makers…or the fashion, make up and wellness industries have just gotten bigger. (I don’t really mind!)

Violent reactions, anyone? Email me @ live_out_loud@ymail.com. If you’re lucky, I won’t rebut you because I’m busy doing all the things that I do better than men.

A Beauty Dilemma (beautiful nails vs. work efficiency)

2009-10-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

If I cut my nails to a length that doesn't make the actual nails surpass where my fingers end, I find typing so easy and my normal typing speed is about 70 words per minute. However, lately, I'm loving how beautiful my nails look in sheer pink glittery polish, with a length that surpasses where my fingers end. So my work efficiency tilts a little. (I'm a full time writer, BTW.)

Also, with long nails, I get tired typing easily. *sigh

At the expense of work efficiency, I have more beautiful-looking hands and even if I work slower now, whenever I look at how good my hands look (and yes, my significant other noticed), I tell myself that it's worth it.

Oh well. Il faut souffrir pour etre belle. One must suffer to be beautiful.

Trading Up

2009-10-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

I just met with a former classmate and a really good friend and we had lunch. Over a sumptuous dish of rotisserie chicken, java rice and pasta, we talked about our college life and we dreamt of the things that we will buy come payday. We have both gone far from what we were during college—more expensive clothes, dining in restaurants rather than fastfood chains, and we ALWAYS had prepaid cellphone load. We’ve covered quite a distance, eh?

Then she asked me if I have access to this gadget. It was one of Apple iPod’s latest babies, and I swear, we wouldn’t afford it had we been in college still. However, we talked about it like it was easily acquirable, and true enough, its price didn’t daunt us anymore. After we dined at a nice pizza place, we went out for donuts at a posh place downtown.

Then we continued talking about the latest cell phones, the latest shoe designs, the latest sale, who dates the latest cutie, etc. It was all about updating, upgrading and trading up. (Whatever you call it.) This made me realize that approaching technology, and life in general, nowadays is like riding a roller coaster or a race car without putting your seatbelt on. It can truly carry you in its powerful current and you have to be really strong to resist it.

When we were still in college, we didn’t mind about what the latest gadget was or even what the newest facial treatment was. Today, as we journey the professional life, somehow we are pressured to always step up, as if we are proving ourselves to ANOTHER imaginary boss, whom we need to impress all the time.

Then I realized that this culture wasn’t just with us. This culture was also common to a lot of newly graduated young adults, and reunions were more than just “simple get togethers”, it is an ego parade, and a catching up on who raises his/ her eyebrow the highest. Perhaps this is partly because of man’s cannot-be-contented character, plus the shock that we get from earning money which we can spend entirely to ourselves. This money shock is pretty alarming, because a lot of young people are not even capable of proper financial management. We can still be lured by the shiny things..even if we don’t need them.

Today, we are already upgraded versions of ourselves. And no matter how much I loathe the “always upgrading” lifestyle, I guess that there is still a good side in trading up. Along the way, we cannot deny that we eventually pick up lessons (especially about money) from here and there, and we will end up, well, traded up. Advanced. Upgraded.
Tell me what you think---live_out_loud@ymail.com.

Woman, How is THE OFFICE Treating You?

2009-10-09T00:17:00.000-07:00

I recently overheard a conversation about this girl who was not happy about her job anymore. She holds an above rank-and-file position at company downtown. Well, it wasn’t THAT, actually. But she wanted a raise since she was given extra work and she seriously thinks she deserves it. Because she can’t blatantly tell her boss to give her a raise, she started taking absences from work and she expects the rest of the people in the workplace to get what she’s trying to convey. Surprisingly, her female coworkers got the message but the men from the top floors of the organizational chart accuse her of truancy.

My question: why can’t she just write a sincere and courteous letter about her concern? Are women nowadays too afraid to ask?

This glaring situation made me realize of a lot of things that women, I general, miss out on in the office because they were too afraid to ask.

First, the raise. When we’re working at a company for quite sometime and we believe that we have contributed a lot of the things that the company accomplished, then we sincerely believe we deserve a raise. THAT, or we suddenly are given extra responsibilities and the management seem to treat us like the same. (Evidence: the payroll.) Statistics show that women generally earn less than men because we were too afraid to stand up and ask for it. Less women “compete” for promotion against men, and also, less women DEMAND the salary that they think they deserve. When women don’t get what they deserve, usually, they just suck it in and pray that the next time will be better. When men don’t get what they deserve, they usually talk to their bosses about it and they’re even more cunning when competing for a promotion.

A reputable statistics company in the US also held a study which focused on new employees. They interviewed 1000 men and women for the same position. Every one was asked the same set of questions and each interview ended with “How much salary do you expect to receive in this job?” The ending? The average salary that the men quoted was around 20% higher than the average salary that the women quoted.
The thing is, women may dominate a lot of offices lately, but we’re still too afraid to speak out in the office.

Another interesting fact: more men ask for cash advances than women. Well, I told a friend about this and she just said that maybe it was because men are more pressured to provide, so they ALWAYS have to have money. My take on this is that women always had a shady relationship with money, and that is why women are not encouraged to really talk about money outside the bounds of family.

Men have always been trained to become go-getters and that is why in the office, they rise faster. Women, on the other hand, are being socially rewarded for being cooperating and having an easy-do-deal-with attitude, that is why women are not likely to stir legitimate corporate intrigue.

What do you think about this phenomenon? I’ve only been in the corporate world for months and I can these sad things actually happen. Should the bosses reach out to women more? Are workplaces and organizational charts simply not women-friendly enough? What about other forms of abuse? Like sexual and verbal assault? How long should the women keep mum?

Woman, how is the office treating you? Woman, email me at live_out_loud@ymail.com.

Il Faut Souffrir Pour Etre Belle (One Must Suffer To be Beautiful)

2009-10-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

It hurts but I'd like to think it's worth it.- Bitch Varsity

WAYS I HURT MYSELF FOR BEAUTY (AND FASHION)

1. Wearing an embellished hair band which glistens beautifully in the sunlight and keeps the hair off my face...which also presses too hard at the space below my ear. So I had to take it off everytime I'm just working on my office desk.

2. Wearing 3-inch heels. They had to look fabulous, though. Once in a while, I go to the bathroom to massage my feet.

3. Wearing belts to cinch my waist which eventually tighten when I'm full. I just sit straight so it doesn't hurt as much.

4. Waxing (and threading). God, it hurts so damn much. I'm pretty OC about this. It's definitely worth it.

5. Curling my Lashes. Sometimes I tend to pull too hard or press too hard.

10 Ways to Pamper Yourself for P200 or Less

2009-10-03T06:42:00.001-07:00

So I was alone this afternoon, and I had money to spare. Actually, I had more than P200 but I wanted to bring home food and ice cream so I kept my "pampering" budget at that. The ending? I didn't really UNDERGO any form of pampering aside from window shopping (because it was absolutely a by-product) but along the way, I thought of ten genius ways to be pampered for P200 or less.

1. Get a foot spa at a cheap salon. I am pretty sure there are foot spas which cost only P200, you can stroll around the AdDU college campus and I'm sure you'll find one. Getting a foot spa means ending up with pretty feet and that's really heartwarming. A foot massage also sounds just as divine.

2. Buy Hershey's kisses and eat them all up by yourself. WARNING: This is pretty embarrassing so I advise you do all the pigging out at home. Well, it's chocolate. And chocolate is a basic human right. YUMYUMYUM.

3. Buy a lip gloss. It is amazing how much power a woman can have anytime of the day, anywhere she goes, when she has the right lip gloss on. Explore the bounds of this power and buy a lip gloss with a shade that compliments your skin tone. I recommend Nivea Caregloss & Shine (a little over P100), the Penshoppe lip gloss palette (P129) and Ever Bilena lip gloss in shade 07 (P75---a steal!)

4. Buy the latest issue of your favorite magazine and read it cover to cover. Magazines are usually filled with words which encourage you to become a better version of yourself in the most important aspects of life (aka 3Bs): beauty, business and booty. I'm a fan of Marie Claire (filled with intelligent reads) and Cosmopolitan (foxy foxy foxy).

5. Watch a feel good movie. Hit the cinemas. I'm sure you'll find one movie there that you seriously wanted to watch, it's just that you have no one to watch it with. Well, why bother, when you can down the whole tub of popcorn all by yourself? LOL. At least you don't have to explain the sticky parts of the plot to someone who's a empty upstairs.

6. Hit the flea market. Well the flea market is a tricky place. You don't really find the things you need there, but you find things that you like, and you end up buying them anyway. Most of these things are just pretty-at-the-moment and after a few days, you will wonder why you bought them in the first place. Sigh. But going to flea markets and knowing your cash can stretch farther is therapy in itself, isn't it?

7. Go to the arcade and play all the games you're dying to play! Just knock yourself out. Personally, I think the arcade is a great stress-reliever. Everything is bright and happy-tuned and it is filled with goodies! Timezone is my home away from home.

8. Go to the gym. The upscale gyms have a one-time fee, which range from P100 to P200. Exercise is good for your body, enough said. Besides, you could use the extra endorphins. Lastly, you might bump into a buffed cutie there, right? *wink

9. Buy flowers. Everytime I think of flowers, I instantly smile. They just radiate a big portion of the world's quota for beauty and therefore they have the power to make anyone smile and feel better with just the sight of them. I ♥ gerbera, long stemmed deep red roses, two-toned mums and orchids. Mixed flowers bouquets are love!

10. Have a street food buffet! Eat the streets out! LOL! For once, neglect the oil, salt, grease and even smoke! Street food is cheap and yummy! Come on, don't be a killjoy. With P200, you can even treat your whole barkada to a kwek-kwek fest! :)

Now that I think about it, perhaps the reason why I ended up doing NOTHING among these ten is that I simply couldn't decide. :p So have you? Hit me back for other stellar ideas! ♥

What do I love? LEGGINGS! ♥

2009-09-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

LEGGINGS, I have neglected you for so long. I hope you find it in your (sheer) hearts to forgive me.

My my my! Leggings have been in the racks for a VERY VERY VERY long time and it took me so much time to realize that they, in fact, look very good on a skinny body! I KNOW RIGHT?! So sue me.

I used to pride myself for having well-shaped legs due to years of dancing and table tennis so I love wearing shorts of all kinds. And those tight low rise jeans, THEY'RE MY TRUE LOVE. Although I'd love an additional inch or two for my legs, I was very proud of them. But I guess I spent too much time and money on all the other more "solid" bottoms and never paid attention to leggings..until now.

I only own two pairs of leggings, black and brown, and I use them for "cover up" when I'm wearing a long blouse. They kind of doubled as stockings. I used to think they were very tacky. I only wore them to show off my trench-like dresses but I never knew they'd look very good on me until one day I experimented and wore leggings with a cute short dress, flats, and a trendy bag. I looked divine. (Sorry, no pics. :p After all, this is an apology letter for leggings and not a camwhoring with an excuse.)

Come to think of it, leggings actually go well with skirts, shorts, short dresses, frilly tops, coats and so much more! Of course you already know that. Forgive the gushing. Ijustcan'thelpit!

So anyway, it might be a little late but it's still in the way you carry your outfit. There IS such a thing as fashionably late, isn't there?

♥bitch varsity team captain

Bitch Tip #5: Minimize Eating Out

2009-09-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

Eating out bills are made up of cost of food + overhead + service (+ restaurant name!). So eating out costs a lot more than eating at home. Also, the same poison works for spending for overpriced coffee. Bring a “baon” at home or in school, or better yet, choose a clean kitchenette (karinderia), have a daily meal budget and ACTUALLY stick with it.

If you like eating out because it lets you catch up with friends, hold a poker/karaoke/board game night at a friend's house instead. Have easy-to-prepare meals and you may even throw in a bottle of wine. At the end of the day you'll still have fun and you'll save a lot more versus ordering entrees or paying for cocktails and overprices hors d'ouvres.

Bitch Tip #4: Save Up on Manicure Touch Ups

2009-09-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

Seriously, the cheapest salon manicure I know costs P50 and the most expensive one (the basic one, not the one with nail art) costs P120. The thing with manicures is that they should always look perfect so you will be pressured to keep them up, or simply keep your nails looking natural.

If you are used to getting a manicure (especially with a colored nail polish on) it’s difficult to get by with naked nails. Plus, there's the pressure brewing if you go to a place where all the female members have manicure-maintained nails. (An expensive college? A bank executives floor?)

My advice: get a manicure set and do it at home. This helps you spend time with yourself, away from chores and work, lets you save, and most of all, you can pick the exact color that you want. If you don’t want that, get a basic manicure session, skip the color and do with colorless polish.

Bitch Varsity's Exclusives: My signature nail color is a sweep of glitters (one coat)and pink translucent polish (two coats). It looks just timid, classy, unique and healthy. Get your own signature color too! :)

Bitch Tip #3: Slash Your Laundry Budget

2009-09-22T03:36:00.000-07:00

If you are living alone and has never been a fan of handwashing, you are most likely spending wads of cash to the laundry shop. THAT, or you’re simply extravagant and you want to have ridiculously sweet smelling clothes all the time. (SIGH. Such heaven.)

Laundry services costs start at P15 per kilo. A 2-person household with both people working can accumulate around 12 kilos of laundry a week, excluding bedsheets, pillowcases, curtains, etc. Imagine how much you can save if you did your own laundry!Plus there are laundry shops which charge extra for whites and "industrial" laundry. My advice is, you classify your laundry according to the complexity of it being handwashed. Jeans should be grouped together with heavy-material tops, bedsheets, pillowcases, etc. Send them to laundry. The lighter ones: the “pambahay” clothes, underwear, hankies and socks, handwash them using a good detergent, apply fabric softener if you want, and schedule washing with a buddy so you’d still have fun while you’re at it.

Before there was Tide Total Care and Downy, having the laundry-shop quality was difficult to do with bare hands. Today, mankind has gone a long way. So have fun washing!

Secret shame: I actually find handwashing fun. I get challenged with heavy materials and white bedsheets! Don't.tell.anyone! :)

My Birthday Wish List

2009-09-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I will be officially leaving the teenage planet and if I make mistakes naivete won't be a valid excuse ANYMORE.

So, bad thoughts aside, I deserve the right to be a little self-indulgent. Here's my birthday wish list: (GET ME SOME GOODIES, BIATCH!)

1. Atonement; book by Ian McEwan
2. A pair of Dupe/ Havaianas/ Old Navy Slippers
3. A pair of pointed black leather shoes
4. A new mascara in brown-black or black
5. A massage! (sigh)
6. Simple, Everyday Silver Earrings
7. Albums Almost Kinda Acoustic 1, 2 and 3
8. A new phone! (pref. LG KS360, SE W302/ W395/C702, Nokia E71 or Samsung Star)
9. A BIG BOUQUET (sigh!)
10. A coat-like dress
11. A pair of boots (brown or black)
12. An uninterrupted day with....nobody nobody but you :)

Other Uses for THE POKER FACE

2009-09-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

I've recently mastered the art of displaying the POKER FACE. And I've found it to be heavily useful in other things, namely:

1. When Your Parents Scold You For Going Home Late
2. When You're Doing Flea Market Shopping (don't appear too eager!)
3. When Beggars Ask for Alms And You Don't Wanna Give 'Em A Slice of Your Hard Earned Cash
4. When Your Lover Arrives Home Very Late And Asks You What's For Dinner
5. When Your Good-For-Nothing Employee Asks For a Raise
6. When An Overly Excited Insurance/ Encyclopedia/ Condominium Salesman Approaches You
7. For Mugshots
8. For Wedding Photos Where You Hate the Bride/ Groom
9. When You're Seriously Blogging (he! he!)
10. When You're on a Bitter Blind Date (not that I've been on one..)
11. When an Angry-Looking Dog is Shooting You Eye Daggers
12. Bumping Into an Ex Who Used to be Good Looking
13. When Trying to Shut Down an Overly Chatty Manicurista
14. When Your Pedophile Professor Winks at Your for the Nth Time

and lastly,

15. The Morning You Wake Up And Realize You've Turned 40

Bitch Tip #2: Facial Whitening Creams for the Underarms

2009-09-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

I've always known they had to be good for something ELSE.

With all the Filipino obsession for fair skin, my four-woman household gave in to the curse and bought lots and lots of products in the Pond's whitening products range. I don't use whitening products for my skin because I'm already fair skinned (better use sunblock!) and I don't wanna look like those kids in Twilight.

So yeah, this is what I do: I use the Pond's whitening facial wash and creams FOR MY UNDERARMS. When I have more time, I also use them for my elbows and knees for that white-all-over look. And when I wear sleeveless, it's just...pretty. :)

Bonus: Such products are also designed to make your skin more supple so when you tweez or wax, the hair comes off more easily and pain is lessened.

lots of love and beauty,

♥bitch varsity♥

Booty Call

2009-09-08T20:46:00.001-07:00

I can feel it rising
that familiar itch
The longing for some
Weight pulling me down
And taking me high
At the same time
In inexplicably loud breaths
And the aroma of
Sweat and other
Forbidden liquids
Filling the air
Along with
Raspy sounds
of muffled words
of opposite nature
“Yes, yes” and
“stop, don’t, stop”
More “yes, yes”
Until---
Both of us are breathless

Fake me some lovin’
some nail-scratchin'
good old hair pullin'

Today,
anyone would
Just do
Just fill the void
And take me
home with you

Bitch Tip # 1: Use Bond Paper Instead of Wax Strips

2009-09-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

If you're using cold wax instead of hot wax (ouch!) use bond paper (pref. substance 20) instead of the wax strips. Bond paper takes off more hair in one strippin' so it saves you time waxing. It hurts more though; but just make the strippin' off quick and promise the results will be worth it. :)

GOSSIP GIRL: Examined

2009-09-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

I actually knew Gossip girl as a book series back when I was still in high school. (Note: I’ve finished college already.) Today, every high school and college girl must have heard of Gossip girl. This is because Gossip girl has turned into this sensational TV series featuring highly fashionable clothes and a ridiculously good looking crew.

Gossip girl is all about a certain group of affluent students in Upper East Side, New York who are in a seemingly tight place to be climbing up an already crowded social ladder. The most controversial crowd includes:

1. Blair, the “Queen Bee”, a daughter of a famous fashion designer also known as evil sugarcoated
2. Serena, a reformed party girl and Blair’s best friend
3. Nate, Blair’s long time boyfriend who fell for Serena
4. Chuck, a rash play boy who is the son of a rich businessman
5. Jenny, a middle class girl trying to get into Blair’s posse
6. Dan, Jenny’s brother, became Serena’s boyfriend after a few fateful meetings

Gossip girl features this anonymous web site where everybody who is a somebody is featured. This web site thrives in nothing but gossip—who is dating who, where they’re going to college, what (insert name here) wore during the last pool party, who is the latest social climber, etc. Basically, every other person’s life in the Upper East Side is just another tragedy waiting to happen.

What alarms me is that this show has a lot to do with problematic female behavior. Males where taught to deal with difficult situations physically. Two men eyeing the same woman at a bar? A fistfight finishes the story. Computer game buddy getting on your nerves? Fistfight finishes the story. A cheater at gambling? Fistfight all the way. (Not that I encourage it.) However, women are not “trained” that problems should be dealt with physically. Instead, women adopt a slyer and scheming approach: gossip.

The show Gossip girl feeds the notion that gossip is okay and that it is an effective defense against people who seem to want to destroy your life. A gossip is countered by a more poisonous gossip, and this starts a cycle of hatred where there is no end goal but to murder the image of a person. What’s more, the danger multiplies because in Gossip girl, the people are expected to hang out with a particular posse, which is composed of people who are willing to invent the nastiest rumor just to protect a member of this posse. Basically, it’s just like the classic Filipino frat war—just as heartless albeit bloodless.

Moreover, there are a lot of things in Gossip girl which are disapproved by most Filipino minds today. Things such as casual sex, cheating, rebellion, revenge, drug addiction, gambling, catfights and social climbing are presented in Gossip girl in a very natural way, as if it is as natural as the sun rising and setting. What’s worse, they sugarcoat these cultural detriments by hiding them under the coat of glam and good looks.

As one of the most awaited shows of the whole world (thanks to outstanding marketing), Gossip girl received mixed reviews during their first few week of airing. In fact, the Parents Television Council of America labeled Gossip Girl as “Mind-blowingly Inappropriate”, “A Nasty Piece of Work” and “Every Parent’s Nightmare”. If that’s not enough, people who ACTUALLY live in the Upper East Side also accused Gossip Girl of over-glamorizing their lifestyles. Tsk tsk.

Anyway, I won’t be a hypocrite here. I was also addicted to Gossip girl. It was that addiction which made me examine it a little bit deeper (I actually rewatched Seasons 1 and 2!). Sure, the clothes are great and everyone is just ridiculously attractive. Gossip girl is a guilty pleasure, a sin chamber, and you know you love it (anyway). But we have to take a good look at our values again and not be taken by this storm of evil disguising as a TV show.

Got something to say? Email it to me —live_out_loud@ymail.com. Gossip girl’s third season is just coming up, and we’ll all be waiting…or not.

Who do I love? Katy Perry!

2009-08-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

Katy Perry is an outstanding new artist, like a refreshing cocktail in a sea of boring old drinks.

Her lyrics are either smart, feisty and heartfelt. With an easily distinguishable voice and doll-like appearance, it didn't take long for Katy Perry to rise up the music charts.

She took the world by the storm for the first time over "I Kissed a Girl" which talked about a girl kissing another girl for the first time and actually liking it. The song is naughty but very direct to the point. This song came in handy in the "gay fad", where TV shows like the L word, Queer as Folk and talks about Lindsay + Samantha Ronson, Portia + Ellen and some gay boyband members skyrocketed.

Kety Perry then surprises us with a ballad: Thinking of You. It is a sad love song with a very melodramatic music video.

What makes Katy Perry so distinct is her versatility. She flings from "I Kissed a Girl" (pop) to "Thinking of You" (mellow) to "Waking Up in Vegas" (party) and it doesn't look like she's doing a lot of effort doing so. Kudos to you Katy Perry.

And I'll be looking forward to greater music and more eyelash batting, biatch. :)

How to Be an Icon ♥

2009-08-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

I’m not saying I am one, but since you’re already assuming it, okay, I won’t put up a fight.

Anyway, lately, I’ve been spending most of my time just thinking about life, going through it half-listening to people and half-asleep. I guess there’s this thing about unemployment that makes you appreciate the OTHER things in life aside from money. (Oh, are there actually OTHER things in life aside from money? Just kidding.) I’ve been thinking how we live to die and how we just have to make the most out of our lives.

So here goes. I compiled a list of things that we need to do in order to make a mark in this world. I know it’s difficult to top how sorry people felt when Cory Aquino died but at least when we do, we get to be remembered for some things that fall under the category of “pleasant memories”.

1. Have a signature accessory. For Chuck Bass of Gossip Girl, it was his scarf. For Miranda Priestly of The Devil Wears Prada (the book), it was her white Hermes scarf. No, it doesn’t need to be a scarf, just something that you can wear everyday. I know a friend who wears a bundle of extraordinary necklaces everyday and it seemed to blend into whatever he wears. And he gets known for it. A signature accessory makes you “own” such accessory because people see you frequently with it. (Just like when people see you often with a single person, they assume you’re a couple.)

2. Have a signature scent. Studies show that scents are the greatest memory triggers. Wear something that’s light enough to blend with any weather and something that can go from day to night. Choose a scent that you really like and maintain wearing it for a long time. When people you know smell it from someone else, they will instantly remember you. Besides, there’s really no excuse for not smelling good, is there?

3. Speak a certain way…consciously. This may sound difficult for some people but when you get used to it, it comes out naturally. A lot of people think I’m really “disagreeable” or, in our dialect, “maldita” because when I talk and when I’m engrossed in an (intellectual) conversation, I tip my head to the left and raise my left eyebrow. If you see me from afar, I look very “maldita”. But until now, nobody knows I do it just because that’s the angle where I’m more photogenic. Charming varsity, isn’t it? Intellectual thoughts + good looks! Boo! Hahaha!

4. Get published. Gah! I don’t care how you do it. Whether you volunteer for a charity organization and have a press-worthy event, win an inter-school spelling bee, be accused of mass murder, be the first Filipino on the moon or be the next Wowowee millionaire, just getting your name and/or picture on print is a good avenue to be remembered. You do THAT, or just apply as a writer here. Hehe.

What can I say? Life’s too short to be unnoticed. Email me! Live_out_loud@ymail.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FANCY PANTS

2009-08-23T02:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my favorite bitch, PAMELA.

visit her fabulous blog and send her your kisses. that was not a request.

Women and Spending

2009-08-18T00:06:00.000-07:00

Money has been pretty tight to me lately. I just decided to take up writing seriously and the paychecks arrived late and sometimes, some clients from overseas terminate projects in the middle of our agreed time and there’s no way for me to have my say. That’s how it works in the industry I’m in. So lately, I’ve been trying to make ends meet through a tight purse.

It was difficult. God, it was difficult. I was used to having a good life, partying at night, and hanging out at posh coffee shops or shopping malls by day. Writing was paying really well so when I lost two of my biggest accounts because our projects are finished, I kind of tilted towards life. Then it dawned on me that it’s not really because money ran out fast. Money was still arriving, albeit in slower paces, but it was my attitude towards money which put me in the losing end.

Women, unlike men, are often not judged or measured by how much we earn. In fact, most of the things which were taught by our mothers were those which involved housekeeping, childrearing and taking care of our bodies. Men were often measured by their status in the society and, of course, how much they earn. Every gathering that involves highflying men always looked like an ego parade to me. Everyone was flashing their watches, taking out their cellular phones and name dropping like crazy. Men and money had a very close relationship and they’re not afraid to flaunt it.

Women, on the other hand, often feel embarrassed when discussing money. We are the ones who find it difficult to tell our friends to pay us the money they owe us. We are the ones who include emotion in our shopping, those who spend money to feel better, those who want to be pampered and are willing to spend for it. We think we deserve such pampering, and more middle-class purses are spending for upper class luxuries. I’ve seen many women who fall into this trap. Measly earning market vendors are getting weekly pedicures. Girls who go to public schools because their parents cannot afford to send them anywhere else spend for hair treatments to look good. A lot of women are guilty of shopping whenever they’re depressed.

I’ve read somewhere that the materialism today was caused by the emerging of two-income families during the 1960s. In this boom, women began receiving and spending money, but they weren’t taught properly on how to handle it. Women began to rise in the workforce, with the famous “second shift” (work during the day and when they get home they work again to housekeep) brushed under the rug. Simply put, women didn’t really confront money as much as men have, and this is one of the reasons why I seriously believe that a lot of women should read up more on financial security and management.

As for the rest of the world, that’s the idea. As for me, I’m painting my nails at home.

Got some money saving tips? I’m planning to compile the smartest contributions and publish them. Gimme a ding—live_out_loud@ymail.com

Ranting About the Rapping: The Evils of Hip Hop

2009-08-16T00:34:00.000-07:00

Generations have passed since hip hop was first introduced as a formal music genre. But then hip hop stood. In fact, hip hop has been reinvented over and over, added flavors, colors, some bling bling. Do I like hip hop? Occasionally. Which means…I don’t, really.

Hip hop used to be a “good vibe” music, makes my head bang softly, a relaxing tune coupled with beats. I had no problem with beats—my heart beats. But today, hip hop has become more than just a musical genre. It has become a misleading lifestyle.

Careful when letting kids watch hip hop music videos or anything closely associated with it. In fact, if you look at the language that they use, rhymes are powdered with foul words, as if those foul words are integrated in the music. This is detrimental because the use of such words will be normalized and since hip hop is “fun”, such words will be deemed as acceptable. The truth is, hip hop is one of the avenues where newer foul words are born. Today, there are about dozens of words that can demean the persona. Words such as “shorty”, “slut”, “hoe” and “bitch” are used side-by-side “dawg” (dog) and “nigga”. These words only reached mainstream use when they appeared more and more frequently in hip hop songs. Tsk tsk.

Another thing that I don’t like about the whole hip hop fad is the way it glamourizes the use and abuse of drugs, alcohol and smoking. In a lot of hip hop videos, the aforementioned things are deemed as cool. The more expensive the drugs, the alcohol and the smokes are, the more powerful and “cool” that person is. Such things are portrayed as a luxurious lifestyle, and they are packaged along with all the bling bling, the beautiful women, the red carpet. When presented together, they create an image these things usually come together, and the drugs, alcohol and smokes all look “okay” and “acceptable” now. If you take out all the glamour, these things will revert to being easily recognizable social evils. That’s it. They’re evil. But hip hop is the mask that hides their evil-ness. Again, tsk tsk.

Lastly, the thing I don’t like most about hip hop is the way they treat women in their music videos. Usually, the women who appear in such videos are scantily clad, and they usually wear a face that’s more often than not the face of desperate seduction. (Rolls eyes.) These women are not just treated as social objects but they are explicitly flaunting such treatment. There are a lot of avenues where women are also treated as sexual objects. Take, for example, James Bond movies, other superhero movies, and even a number of chick flicks. However, in hip hop videos, women are always the ones who lured the men, the ones who surrounded the men, and no matter how beautiful they are, the men always rule. I repeat, tsk tsk.

I have no problems if you like hip hop. After all, there’s still the music part that pulls me into tuning my radio to hip hop still. But if you see the way I do, or completely oppositely, you may give me a ding---live_out_loud@ymail.com.

Back to Square One

2009-08-09T04:54:00.000-07:00

need.to.find.a.new.job.asap

a more satisfying one
a more motivating one
a more challenging one
a higher paying one
a more fabulous one

lol. until then, come home, come home.. :)

On Being a Writer

2009-07-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

When I am asked what my profession is, I answer in a heartbeat: “I am a writer”. Because that is what I do, and what I love doing. I also have other careers on the side but writing has become a fuel for my living—both artistically and economically. Most people glaze their eyes in sheer delight, like it was a very impressive thing to be a writer. On one side, it is true. Being a writer is combined skill and hardwork, and a little speed, sometimes. Most of all, it is closely related to the love for the arts, which is quite wonderful, an aberration to all the seemingly boring corporate jobs that engulf the money-hungry and consumerist world today.

The truth is, being a (paid) writer is not an easy feat especially if you really love writing. Sometimes there is just a thin line between work and love for the craft and this line blurs when work is not doing too well. On the flip side, a lot of times, I’ve found myself looking around for certain words to complete a poem or a creative nonfiction and then I end up not finding them because I might have used too much words which didn’t mean anything to me (due to work) and so words have just slowly lost meaning. And luster.

I cope with this love-hate relationship by keeping a few good pieces by my side. These are books which I love to read and reread because they contain such great literary pieces or just because they were light enough to read during nights when I find it hard to sleep. I keep funny books (chick lit), intellectual books (feminist and sociologist theories), instructional books (Poker techniques) and some good old drama by Jodi Piccoult, for example.

On the contrary, I don’t really live a charmed life. I’m sure Nicholas Sparks and Dan Brown would agree too. Writing about the things which you are passionate about is easy. However, most of the work consists of things which I don’t have the slightest idea about. I’ve written about anti-aging ingredients, about psychedelic mushrooms, about relationships, wind mills, subliminal messaging, watches, flags, and even divorce. If I had my way, I will write about the youth culture (just like in this column) and other random things which I feel like writing about. Perhaps, Facebook, feminism, the people I love, nail color, sunblock, good haircuts, debate and Sony Ericsson phones.

Writing for me has also become an outlet. I tend to think and write faster when I’m mad. I tend to write about a lot of meaningful things when I’m sad. I don’t write at all when I’m feeling so down or “lost”. Writing has been the only thing which did not betray me. Yes, even financially! Writing was paying for my lavish lifestyle for more than a year now. (I kind of given up the lavish lifestyle, by the way.) Writing has become a life long love affair.

There were times when I left writing behind in pursuit of other interests such as debate, dancing, table tennis and poker. But then I always find myself coming back to it, and it accepts me giddily, like a parent to a child. This has recurred so many times, so I realize that whenever I write, no matter what medium I use, I always feel at home. Sometimes, even invincible.

I guess being a writer doesn’t mean that you have to have writing as a profession or that you win a Palanca or publish dozens of books. Maybe it just means that you seriously believe that you lived to write…and nothing else matters.

Now it’s your turn. Write me a letter--- live_out_loud@ymail.com

Some Basic Human Rights

2009-07-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went on a date with a person I've taken for granted for quite sometime, myself.

I went to SM to do a favor for someone and I found myself craving for shredded corn. (They're yummy with butter and iodized salt.) I ordered two cups and walked around the mall in sheer buttery glory. Then suddenly, there it was. A literary mini Mecca..a book sale. I scurried over and found that the books on sale just cost 99php for two pieces! The best part? There were poetry books, film books and some classics and they were all BRAND NEW! Su-weet! :)

I spend about an hour sitting down, standing up, titling my head to the side to read the titles, examining summaries, spotting interesting covers, delineating fiction from non fiction, prose from poetry, and batting my lashes at the boy manning the cash register*, I finally made up my mind and picked up four books.
*of course, this part is fictional

One was about social climbing in England, the one about a hidden 13 year affair by Charles Dickens, one is a collection of funny anecdotes about a girl's relationship with her mom, and the last one is a story of a small town beauty queen who gets a dollop of culture shock in Manhattan. Everything fell under light reading except, of course, the Dickens expose.

Then I went to the food court to sit down, eager to have a closer look at my books (my babies!) and ordered a tad overpriced chocolate roll. It's actually a little over my daily budget but hey, CHOCOLATE IS A FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT, right?

How to be SUPERGIRL (And Not Lose Your Head in the Process)

2009-07-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

How to be Supergirl (and Not Lose Your Head in the Process)

Conjuring all the courage I’ve picked up from everywhere, I’m going to enumerate the things that have been filling my days. I am 19. I organize events for a bar regularly, and I am also an event manager by appointment. I have a full time job as an assistant to the Directress of a Montessori school. I write for Mindanao Times. I also write regularly for three different bosses—two from the Philippines and one from overseas. I own and manage an online gift shop. I am an alumni member of Mindanao’s best debate club—The Ateneo Debate Varsity. I am a member of the Young Davao Writers and The Davao Film Society (tentative name). I have a writing career, an events manager career, an entrepreneurial career and a poker career. I AM SUPERGIRL.

A lot of people are amazed at how I take care of my time and my engagements. The thing is, I’ve been so used to this packed life that I can’t imagine how to “declutter” my life anymore. (Not that my life is solely associated to clutter. . .) I am used to the pressure, all the running around, fiddling with my two phones, eating lunch in a box and retouching my makeup in a taxi cab. If you are living a life nearly similar as mine, it would be nice to remember a few tips.

1. Be organized. It’s a good thing technology has come up with organization tools! Cellular phones nowadays also carry calendars, reminder notes (with alarms!) and clocks with them. But even so, I recommend the use of a handy notebook and a pen to keep track of your days. At least notebooks never run out of battery; plus, there is something about paper that makes it look more convincing. And don’t forget to ALWAYS wear a watch.

2. Stay organized. A day before a heavily busy day, you will know that the next day is, well, a heavily busy day. So plan that day ahead. What I do is I mark my organizer by the hour and specify what I will be doing in that specific hour. This measure pressures you to stay on the right track and that every second counts. Because, when you are a Supergirl, it’s true..every second counts.

3. Prioritize. Know the gray areas of what’s important and not important. Then there’s the less important and the more important. This skill is the key to knowing which things are the things that you SHOULD be doing. Saves the Supergirl thinking of an excuse to tell to the person she’s about to turn down.

4. Indulge in little pleasures. Once in a while, stop and spend for none but yourself. By working too hard, you are also pushing your mental, physical and psychological abilities. You will need a time out. Whether it’s playing poker, getting a manicure or reading a the latest magazine, everyone deserves the right for some reward after working so hard. This keeps you from really losing your head and makes you feel more like a human being rather than an insensitive machine. Me? I treat myself to foot massages, reading chick literature and slowly sipping overpriced cappuccinos. THAT, or lechon.

Did I sound like what I do is very easy? I’m sure there are not a lot of girls who can do all these economical satire. Haha. So email me about your own version of Supergirl--- live_out_loud@ymail.com.

(Don’t worry, I love reading your emails no matter how busy I am. I sincerely believe fan mails are the next antioxidants.) :)

ARE YOU WORTH FACEBOOKING?

2009-06-30T00:52:00.000-07:00

When Facebook first hit the Philippine youth, I was all glum about it. I’ve been maintaining Friendster, a blog and Multiply, and I didn’t want to get into another social networking fiasco, like a lost underwear in a laundry bag full of dirty clothes.

But then again, one writing assignment got me into Facebook. My client wanted me to get in touch with him over there. I couldn’t get why he wanted that but I acquiesced anyway. So voila! I got a Facebook account.

At first, I was so busy stocking it with information and then I got tired. I let it sleep for awhile, just approve friend requests of friends I know, and then suddenly, my photos were stuffed. Turns out, photos of friends which have you in it are also uploaded in your profile. Coolness. Now I don’t have to upload. People can just do it for me. I poked around for more fun, and found poker. I told myself, “Finally, something worth Facebook-ing.” I climbed up the ranks pretty easily and my online poker career started there.

But I didn’t want to be unfair to Facebook. I knew it was so much more than poker. So I published some of my poetry there and updated on my friends’ walls. (Walls are like their corkboards. You can write or put up anything there and whatever you put up, it is understood to be intended for the one who owns the “wall”.) Then I started checking it out everyday. More and more friends added me up and the funny thing is that, most of these people are people I knew waaaay before, like elementary buddies. High school acquaintances in Cebu ask how I was and I knew they all saw my latest pictures.

I say I also enjoy looking at how they were..and I think this is what we do Facebook for. I got in touch with a friend I made during first grade. She used to be bullied because she had a birthmark on her forehead but now she’s turned out to be a really pretty girl. Actually pretty was an understatement! She looks like a model! I also discovered some handsome boys during elementary and high school who turned out to be not so handsome after all.

Then I came into a very profound realization: ugly ducklings and have-beens, that’s what Facebook is for. Facebook runs almost always on autopilot; even if you’re not updating, you will be updated because other people are always looking around. Facebook is a good avenue to catch up how everybody’s been, and notice that Facebooking (yes honey, it’s a verb now) will eventually define how you’d be feeling for the rest of the day. Frankly, I feel a lot better every after I Facebook. I’d see old friends who have been successful and old flames who turned out to be not worth my time. LOL.

All I can say is that Facebook is out to build more and more avenues for “catching up”. Ugly ducklings and have-beens, Facebook is for you. Then again, a friend asks, “What about those who aren’t either?” Well, they could just keel over and die a virtual death. Then we’ll all bury their ashes under a virtual rug and we could go on Facebooking without them.

So, are you known for something yet? Are YOU worth Facebooking?

Email me your silent violations via live_out_loud@ymail.com. I’ll get back to you when I’m not Facebooking.

Having No Degree and Rocking It

2009-06-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

In my defense, I have a degree.

Okay, next topic.

Most third world nations are plagued with the apparent haste of globalization, the thicker competition for jobs and the number of kids who do not find traditional education attractive anymore. There are more bars newly erected than schools. Ever notice that before?

This alarms me. (And a few thousand parents out there.) In a country where putting AND KEEPING food on the table is of highest importance, a lot of people struggle to get a diploma, a degree, to at least assure them of employment after they graduate. Then they try to venture into the corporate world. Then there’s the food-on-the-table pressure. .

However, there are also a lot of jobs which do not really require a diploma, but can put food on the table. And expensive perfumes on the dresser! Here is a list of the things that you can try to plunge into in case you just want to earn.

1. Call Center. First on the list, of course. Most call centers do not require a college diploma, as long as you’re good in English and you have problem-solving skills. Most call center companies also offer intensive training for their agents so even if you’re just armed with English, you will survive in this industry. Most call center companies offer an above rank-and-file rate for starters and that’s what makes it very attractive to most people nowadays.

2. Online Writing. I was almost self-supporting all throughout fourth year college because of online writing. There IS a lot of money in this industry. See, the web is the virtual mall nowadays. More and more businesses are investing on their online wings, therefore, online articles (GOOD stuff to read—a major come-on) sell high especially if you’re a skilled writer. My advice to writers out there—learn online writing first. It is waaaay different than writing in print. If you have been following my Wednesday column (Mindanao Times), I wrote about online writing a few weeks ago. Five stars for you if you read it.

3. ESL (English as Second Language) Teaching. Aside from call centers, there is also another baby industry growing. Actually it’s not so “baby“ anymore. More and more foreigners want to keep up with the English speaking world. I remember working in this industry three years ago. This industry pays a minimum of P50 per hour, that’s P400 for eight hours. Way above minimum wage, eh? And again, you don’t need a degree. Just learn English and ace the interview.

4. Digital Art. This is pretty tricky. Of course, you won’t really need a degree to master Adobe (all the Adobe in the world!) but you will spend sometime learning them—and a whole lot more-- before you master layouting, logo designing, web development, et cetera. This industry belongs more in the freelance arena; because there is more money there, if you know how to work your network. This industry also is bombarded with demands because companies nowadays stand neck-to-neck against each other in terms of marketing competition. They are more aggressive than ever. The bolder they go, the higher the impact. Arts and sales will scream louder than ever! Thanks to the corporate world.

It is also widely held that while such professions vomit a hefty paycheck, they do not offer a lot of opportunities to move forward and advance careers because they are more individually targeted and static rather than team targeted. And, if there really is moving forward, like up the corporate ladder, only a few people will benefit from it.

As this article ends, I still haven’t decided if a degree is unnecessary nowadays. But yearbooks are always fun to look at a few years from now. So there. Haha.

Email me your thoughts…live_out_loud@ymail.com…but right after you finish your homework. Because as what I’ve said, in my defense, I have a degree. :)

How to be English-ly Eloquent

2009-06-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

How to be English-ly Eloquent

A lot of people nowadays find eloquence in the English language a very good advantage. In fact, one of the biggest reasons why I landed a job I wanted so much is my mastery of the English language.

With call centers sprouting like crazy and more ESL centers expanding, learning how to communicate in English (both oral and written) becomes one of the country’s leading concerns. In fact, there is more pressure for us Filipinos to up the ante because we are considered as one of the best English speakers in the world. If you feel left out because you can’t even put your is’s and are’s properly, here are a few tips on how to get chummy with the English language.

1. Learn the basics. Nothing beats learning the basics. Re-learn what nouns, pronouns, verbs. adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections are. (They are called eight parts of speech, by the way.) I’m sure you remember encountering these words when you were in your elementary years. Rekindle your memories with them and vow to never forget their worth. Thank me later.

2. Read, read, read! Read everything you can get your hands on. I am a very industrious reader; I’d read anything, from the Bible to the back of a shampoo bottle, to an eight-page celebrity magazine expose. This helps me get used to English, and my brain also gets used to processing things in English. Hence, when I start forming and opinion or an idea, I do so in English already…instinctively. If you are not a very industrious reader, I recommend reading “easy” materials like magazines or preteen novels. In this way, the learning becomes light and at the same time enjoyable. You can move on to reading Ayn Rand and Tom Clancy and John Locke later.

3. Actually speak English. Now this is the tricky part. In the Philippines, where people are taught to be humble, speaking English comes off as cocky to a lot of people because it is not our native language. However, there is no better practice than actually speaking English (I don’t care who you speak English to!) because it is where you can apply everything you’ve learned—the basics and the advanced ones. If you find this difficult, you can start singing in English (hehe!) and move on to speaking whenever you’re more comfortable.

4. Appreciate English. English is home to a lot of very good artistry—talk about Nobel prize winners, the local Palanca and Pablo Neruda. There are so many things to appreciate in the English language. I recommend reading poetry, since they’re short and oftentimes very moving. They’re compacted emotions, and beautiful symphonies arrested in flight. There are poems which haunt you to sleep and poems which make you shiver, fall in love, timetravel... No, poems are not 4D, but they’re good tools to help you appreciate the English language in a jiffy. My personal favorites include John Donne, Sylvia Plath and our very own Edith Tiempo.

5. Surround yourself with English. Now this is a habit; and this must not stop. Listen to English songs, read English literature, watch movies in English (switch the subtitles on for better comprehension!) and most importantly, talk to people in English. You’ll be an expert in no time. And don’t forget your basics.

Congratulations, you can now call yourself a Filipino. Oops! Just kidding.

Let’s try your English out, email me IN ENGLISH--- live_out_loud@ymai.com

Why School Rocks (Louder than Employment!)

2009-06-14T05:08:00.000-07:00

I’ve been away from school for only two months now. And I must say it isn’t an easy journey. I never believed my friends when they said that college, or school in general, was easier than work. I was always itching to get out of school. In fact, I studied at an early age, 2, thus, I finished college at 19. Even so, while I was in college, I considered taking up summer classes just so I can finish earlier. I was always ahead of everyone, in a rush, and then a bubble busted: I graduated and didn’t know what to do with my life.

I wrote for a dozen of websites and it kept my wallet fat during my senior year. I also did some gigs in the events industry and some small time online entrepreneurship. At first, I didn’t have problems with money. And then my nightmare arrived: my online projects waned, along with my events gigs and I didn’t find my online entrepreneurship as fun as before. So my funds kind of went down the drain. The panacea: a full time job.

It was for sheer need; and so here is a run-down of why school is still better and easier than employment. In the office…

1. You seriously cannot be late. In the office, the clock is a major stakeholder. If it says you’re late, you’re late. You can be reprimanded, suspended or gossiped about in the office. (Who does she think she is? She’s just new and now she’s always late?!) In school, there is a fifteen minute grace period for one to still get the chance to attend the class s/he paid for. And that grace period, I think just spurs out of the fact that you’re paying for the education, not merely for the anti-tardiness training.
2. You seriously cannot be absent everyday for six months straight. In our country, it is general rule that you have to report regularly for six months straight before you can call yourself a regular employee and enjoy the benefits of a regular employee (i.e. leaves, healthcare, etc.) So for six straight months, you have to report in your office. School gives you an allowance of at least ten absences for thrice a week classes, at least seven for twice a week classes and at least three for once a week classes. I think the reason for such time allowances is mentioned in number 1.
3. You seriously have to look credible ALL THE TIME. Whoever said wearing heels everyday was okay was lying. And I don’t care if I mean you, Paris Hilton, Mary Kate and Ashley. Heels hurt the feet. They make your legs breeding grounds for varicose veins and make your calves hurt. Moreover, the clothes which are classified under “office wear” or at least “smart casual” are not really the most comfortable clothes on the planet. At least, at school, a shirt and sneakers are considered decent. Then there’s make-up to haunt me! God gave me a face, I didn’t want another one! When I get home I always breathe a sigh of relief every time I get to wear my comfortable slippers, my loose clothes and my plain face again.
4. You seriously cannot be un-serious. In addition to looking credible all the time, you actually have to BE CREDIBLE all the time. In the office, I cannot say words like “LOL”, “Yeah”, “Uh-huh” and some words from the gay lingo I so love garnishing my daily conversations with. I almost cannot yawn, laugh or get a snack as often as I want to. Oh well.

So to the school kids out there, make the most out of your studies. Trust me, school is a walk in the park compared to employment. My advice to the fresh grads who are also struggling with their first job: choose a job which you truly love and believe in. Rewards are not all monetary.

(Hey school kids, I didn’t mean stay in the institution as long as you can! LOL.) So who says work is easier than school? Hit me back and I’ll hit you harder! Just kidding…live_out_loud@ymail.com.

Ingrid Michaelson's Music: Love at First Sound

2009-05-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

Ingrid Michaelson's music speaks the language of your soul.

Her songwriting is very poignant, practical and oh-so-soothing. I stumbled upon her music when I was browsing through Imeem's Sara Bareilles playlists. When Sara's songs were done, Imeem played Ingrid's "Morning Lullabies" and gosh, it was love at first sound.

Her amazing piano and songwriting prowess just makes you realize there could be no better songs to fit a melody, nor better melodies to fit a series of words. You'd think she has emerged from your thoughts and spoke of the feelings you dare not admit to yourself. Ingrid Michaelson's music is a sweet treat any time any day.

Some of her songs are featured on Grey's Anatomy.

AROUND YOU
"My feet don't touch the ground, when I'm around you, when I'm around you.."

MORNING LULLABIES
" i know you have to close your eyes on everyone, let me help you i'll sing you to sleep. i will sing you morning lullabies, you are beautiful and peaceful this way."

OVERBOARD
"I could write my name by the age of three
and I don't need anyone to cut my meat for me.
I'm a big girl now, see my big girl shoes.
It'll take more than just a breeze to make me

Fall over, fall over, fall overboard, overboard."

BREAKABLE
"Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts?
Just a cage of rib bones and other various parts.
So it's fairly simple to cut right through the mess.
And to stop the muscle that makes us confess."

Have a taste of her magic via http://www.imeem.com/people/VpWXOn/music/YDOrUk2x/ingrid-michaelson-morning-lullabies/ - this is my favorite Ingrid Michaelson song. :)

Hit me back for thank you's. ciao! :)

Disney Movies and Notions on Women

2009-05-20T23:25:00.001-07:00

The female has always been submissive, the "weaker" one and the "rescued" one. This kind of mindset was forced to us as early as two years old. The culprit: those overly commercialized Disney movies.

Two years old. During this age, we were introduced to the idea of fairy tales. We built our basic sense of justice, fairness, goodness and conscience from fairy tales. Or local folklore. Fairy tales have been part of our lives. We will always cherish our favorite fairy tales and can tell them and retell them with a smile. Anyway, let's take a closer look at the following fairy tales. The following observations consistently show the woman as a visual feast, and the rescued sex.

Cinderella
She was abused by her stepmother and stepsisters BECAUSE HER DAD WASN'T THERE. She was, by the way, rescued by her prince.

Snow White
She had male dwarves to help her keep the house. She was also rescued by her prince. Duh.

Sleeping Beauty
She slept for a hundred years until her prince kissed her awake. Notice that she did not age while she was asleep. What if she aged and the “beauty” faded? Would the prince still love her?

Beauty and the Beast
In this case, the woman kind of rescued the prince from being a beast forever. However, I actually believe that she was only used by the prince so he can get his homo sapien-ness back. The Disney adaptation of Beauty and the Beast showed the furniture friends of the prince/beast talking about Beauty and how she could break the spell. These furniture friends even arranged the whole falling-in-love shebang just so the spell would be broken. Sure, it talked about love and living happily ever after. But only after the woman was USED. Love was just the by-product.
It's just the same pattern. Woman starts to feel very wretched, as all protagonists start out, and then men come to rescue them. The handsome princes come and they live “happily ever after”.
Another Disney movie pattern is the recurrence of overly celebrated beauty. All the protagonists are always beautiful, or overly pleasing to the eyes. It creates a mindset that only the beautiful women have a favorable place in this world and thus, they are the “protagonists”. Remember that Cinderella and Snow White were for their beauty, Belle was already tagged as “Beauty”. Even Mulan and Pocahontas were implicitly exposed as beautiful women because they have men fighting over them. This empowers the notion that women will always be “prizes” to win or damsels to rescue. Either way, the woman loses social value.

Last of the losing streak for women also includes women being portrayed as the villains in most of the Disney movies. It’s weaving a cloth of hatred for women among women. This is also reflected in a lot of chick flicks, which feature women who hate other women and try to bring each other down. This notion came from most Disney movie portrayals, where most of the villains are jealous mothers or ugly wart-filled witches.

Love or hate Disney, tell me what you think—live_out_loud@ymail.com.

what the bitch realized on a random day

2009-05-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

1. When you're living on your salary, I mean, ACTUALLY LIVING on it, it's hard to splurge on make up. Especially make up.

2. Eventually, fondness will lead to routine and routine = need.

3. There is such a thing as an intelligent gambler. Statistics, anyone?

4. The loss of a long time job is more than heartbreaking. Like you won't care if all the whales and polar bears die right then and there.

5. Fidelity brings out the best in anyone. Fidelity in love, in your career, in your passion.

6. The job interview is one of the best battles you will ever fight in your life. You are with people whom you don't know and you don't care about. You are being nice to them and intimidating them at the same time (with your rapid-fire English or stellar resume). It's a roller coaster ride. Oh sure. In the end somebody's sure to puke. Haha.

7. I am so thankful somebody actually invented plain, dark denim jeans.

8. You should never squint or hunch your back again.

9. The standard three-meal day is overrated. (It's just wrong! Two big meals or four merienda-like ones do just perfect.)

10. If there's something that will never betray you, it's art.

tired, wasted, and a little bit richer.

2009-04-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

The bitch just came home from what she calls a poker tour.

wouldja believe i played poker for 9 hours straight? haha. not to mention it was cold there.

My friends and I went to Seagull Mountain Resort in Buda. WE had so much fun! We played poker, ate P100+ meals, looked at gerberas, calla lilies and wildflowers incessantly and most of all, swam at their chilling pool.

I was initially for work, but it morphed into something much more memorable than labor. Till next time guys. I love you all. (pics to follow)

What Kids Do During Holy Week

2009-04-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

For most of the kids, Holy Week is just another dragger. You know, malls and bars are closed, roads are quiet and if you don’t have any other hobby that doesn’t involve cable TV or Internet, you’d probably be better of sleeping. Hours creep slower and this Holy Week, the warm weather are challenging the shortest of tempers.

See, when you’re young, you always view holiday differently. Yes, no matter what kind of holidays they are. And holidays put one over the other mean just one thing---a break. Whether it’s a good break or not, I’ve come up with a few things noticed about how kids cope with bore-fest.

DVD Marathons

In your Friendster or Facebook profile, you don’t really need to say that you love watching movies or TV series. Because seriously, everybody loves watching movies and TV series. It’s just that, the kinds of movies and TV series that we prefer are different. When we’ve got a lot of time on our hands, that’s the time when we start watching ALL the movies we could have watched but missed due to midterm papers, dentist appointments or on-the-spot drinking sessions. Why do we do this? The truth is, we do this so we can have more things to talk about with our friends when the Holy Week is almost over. Hehe.

Book Marathon

Just the printed version of the DVD marathon. Refer to the intentions above.

Beach Hopping

Okay, maybe not really beach hopping but beach bumming. Living in a tropical paradise has its perks after all. When “going out of town” just means a 10 minute boat ride to the neighboring island with fabulous beaches, going out of town gets pretty tempting when placed before a string of work-free days. Besides, beaches always have their own way of being unconditionally loved by most teenagers. Like chicken gravy.

Some Cleansing

Supposedly, the Holy Week is designed for some soul cleansing, conscience knocking and meat avoidance. For teenagers this is also a good time to do some cleansing, electronic or otherwise. For one, I used up some of my time clearing up my e-mail inboxes and some online photo albums. It also is a good time to do some reflection on my schedule. Juggling 3 jobs and my lifestyle costing more than how it used to, I needed to seriously get my act together. So what I did was come up with a list of things I needed to do when the Holy Week bids goodbye and a written promise that I’m going to finish those duties. (Fingers crossed.)

The Holy Week has no plans of leaving yet, so if you’ve got more activities for me, as long as they’re legal and within the 8000 zip code, I might be game for it.

Evalu-Wednesday: Sara Bareilles

2009-04-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

Sara Bareilles is a cocktail of a powerful voice, great piano hands and soulful composition. She bares it all in her Careful Confessions album, where most of her songs are very honest and bold. Her songs simply capture the practical roads that lead us to love, skirt around it, and away from it. I recommend that you buy that album if you want the best of Sara Bareilles. However, her other songs are very good too.

I'll quote my favorite lines from my favorite Sara Bareilles songs. (And if you're the romantique type, trust me you'll be itching to buy an album afterwards.)

Gravity
"Set me free, leave me be, I don't wanna fall another moment into your gravity. Here I am, I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be. But you're on to me, all over me.."

Undertow
"You storm me when you come and go, the taste of something so sweet, you should've warned me about the undertow."

Before I Knew Better
"I'll see you tonight in the back of my mind
When I remember your skin like I remembered it then
When you would dress me in white with the look in your eyes
Knew you'd love me forever
Before I ever knew better"

Pretend
"Baby can we just pretend we're not telling lies and this ain't ending? No talk no time no goodbyes. Nothing left of expectations, just you and me and impulsive creations, with an alibi."

Tread Water
"Pardon me, my mistake. Thought it my turn for break. But since the rain loves my face, I'll let it be."

thank you jackie

2009-03-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

you don't know how much you helping means to me. and i dunno what i did to deserve that kind of help. you are kindness personified and may the Goddess bless you. =)

Fancy an ORGY? =P

2009-03-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

On CHIKININIS and Filipinos

2009-03-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

For a school project, we were tasked by our Philosophy teacher to write a poem about a dozen different topics which confront our ethical views. One of these topics was “sexuality”. I was told a long time ago that there are only two topics which can most likely produce really great poetry—love and sex. I took the risk and wrote something “sexual”. (Or so I think.)

The title of my poem was “Chikinini”. In English, a Chikinini is a kiss mark or a hickey. When I told my friends about it, they were both thrilled and slightly disgusted by the thought. I wondered why. Then I realized quite a couple of things.

Although (I think) a hickey is fun to discuss, I realized that there are a lot of things about sex that we, Filipinos, are afraid to tackle just because we are too concerned of what others will think or say about us. Take note, a hickey is even on the “more wholesome” side of the world of sex. Are Filipinos more wary about discussing the other not-so-wholesome-but-recurring topics about sex? Surely. Due to our apprehensions towards the world of sex and its trappings, we are always in danger of being misinformed. I strongly believe this is the reason for a lot of unwanted pregnancies, sexual intercourse with poor consent, rape and even nymphomania.

See, when we don’t talk about sex, we try to find out about it on our own. If you’re one of the smarter ones, you would scour for academic literature and read about sex. However if you find the academic boring and the non-academic better, you might get the wrong notions and build a more risky impression towards sex. There’s a flood of wrong information about sex in different media. And there are peers who can “offer” you pieces of “advice” about their sexual experiences. (Believe me, you will find them amusing and before you know it, you will get overly curious.)

I realized that a hickey can actually ignite one of the strongest sexual curiosities because of its air of mystery. Plus the Filipino backdrop covering the mystery of sex, which has already set uncontrolled curiosities on fire. The truth is, whenever I see a hickey, I’d think “Who gave that hickey? Is it a legitimate lover or otherwise? What did they do before and after the hickey? Was the hickey given a hickey back? How many hickeys are hidden beneath his/her clothing? Which hickey felt the most blissful? Which is more fulfilling, to give or receive one? Could I give a better one? Could I receive a better one? How about a better looking one?” See, my mind wanders at the simple sight of a lover’s I-was-here mark. And even though I am itching to say my thoughts aloud, I’d still crumple them together and throw them away. After all, I am a Filipina, I have Filipinos around me, and we know how Filipinos are. However, surprisingly, when I was writing Chikinini, I did not feel any form of embarrassment. Maybe it’s because I’ve always felt at home with my poetry. I have known my poetry for so long that I don’t know who I am without it anymore. Poetry is my way of expressing myself, but since not all Filipinos are poets or can write about hickeys (and other sexually-charged topics) freely, I still worry about the shoulder-shaking threat of misinformation.

Are you worried too? Tell me about it.

Got Time, Bitch?

2009-03-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

While the floodgates of technology are still swung open, there are a lot of things at hand for the normal day-in-day-out career person (slash) all-around biatch. For most family-oriented *cough cough* people, there is the burden of juggling work, career, family and the other parts of one’s social life. What’s a Busybee supposed to do?

The answer is Time Management. If you ask just about any person whom you greatly admire for different diverse achievements, you may have asked him how he did it. Sure he’ll answer “time management”. Your initial response is a half-assured nod and then you wonder “What exactly is time management?”

Time management is simply the proper allocation of time for certain priorities. First, the priorities have to be arranged in a certain way where it is clustered into sectors and divided into a hierarchy. (Wow, big words.) For example, the important parts of your life are career, your son, your home, your art and your family. You have to know which one to drop first whenever you need to.

After that, you will need help from some time management tools designed to aid you in the correct process of prioritization AND remembering that order.

Quick-and-Easy Reminders

There are a lot of people who need more than one nudging to remember those little important things. If you are one of them, buy some quick-and-easy reminders. What’s good about technology is you can probably put a reminder just about everywhere! Cellular phones nowadays have built-in organizers, post-its are available in different variants and even the good old refrigerator door magnets have come in a lot of forms.

What is important is that the frequency of the reminding is now being increased. This is good for time management because it keeps you aware of the things which you have to do especially if they’re urgent.

The Organizer + Watch Tandem

I love this tandem. I've lived with this tandem for more than five years now. These are staples for just about every busybody; from the college beadle to the corporate leader. The organizer is something that holds your appointments and it’s also a tiny little space for some writing. Busybodies usually have contact numbers of random people they’ve met, gifts for a not-so-relevant birthday party that he has to go to or some sudden brilliant ideas which haunt them at night. For these and more, you will need an organizer. It has to be a little notebook, just enough to fit in a handbag, and should be made of durable material. This organizer is something that you are expected to bring with you every day.

Moreover, the perfect complement to an organizer is a high-quality watch. You may have experienced running late for an appointment just because your watch didn’t work well. What’s worse is that the person you’re meeting wouldn’t even believe you. This blunder can easily be avoided. Just get a high quality watch. Having a good sense of time is practically the first step in time management.

The Perfect I-am-Important Mindset

It’s pressuring to know that you have a lot of things in your hand and it seems like you can‘t even do anything about it. Don’t tip over.

Moreover, keep a “be on your toes” kind of mindset as you maneuver your way into your busy life. Sure, there are times when you distance yourself from your organizer; you hate yourself for being such a workaholic. It’s perfectly alright to feel some form of eternal urgency but take some time off once in a while. In your list of priorities, insert yourself in it. Remember that. Every bitch needs some me time once in a while. Go to the spa, watch the chick flick everybody smirks about but secretly love. Read a good book. Sip tea slowly. Sleep all day.

Ya know what they say. All work and no play. . .keeps the libido at bay. LOL. =)

What the Bitch is Made Of

2009-03-08T21:43:00.001-07:00

You Scored as English/Journalism/Comm

You should strongly consider majoring (or minoring) in Communication, English, Film, Journalism, Literature, or Writing.

It is possible that the best major for you is your 2nd, 3rd, or even 5th listed category, so be sure to consider ALL majors in your OTHER high scoring categories (below). You may score high in a category you didnt think you would--it is possible that a great major for you is something you once dismissed as not for you. The right major for you will be something 1) you love and enjoy and 2) are really great at it.

Consider adding a minor or double majoring to make yourself standout and to combine your interests. Please post your results in your myspace/blog/journal.

English/Journalism/Comm

100%

Visual&PerformingArts

94%

Education/Counseling

81%

HR/BusinessManagement

75%

PoliticalScience/Philosophy

69%

Psychology/Sociology

69%

French/Spanish/OtherLanguage

69%

Physics/Engineering/Computer

63%

Accounting/Finance/Marketing

63%

Religion/Theology

63%

History/Anthropology/LiberalArts

56%

Nursing/AthleticTraining/Health

44%

Biology/Chemistry/Geology

31%

Mathematics/Statistics

Said the Teenager to Her Parents

2009-03-01T07:55:00.000-08:00

We know what to do, just let us be.

We are self-correcting. We go home when we're already too drunk and we know how many cups of coffee we need to finish that due-tomorrow-though-assigned-a-month-ago paper.

We are very concerned with fashion, so stop telling us what to wear and what not to wear. We've read too many articles about how to look good. They better pay off.

We are not very good with handling money, but then again, we are self-correcting. Eventually, we will learn to save, or not really, just have enough for enough.

We know what to do with our bodies. So unless it's cutting a limb off or selling our kidneys, please do not make a big deal out of it. (And stop asking how much my haircut or pedicure costs.)

It doesn't mean that because we idolize the once-innocent-now-slutty Disney stars we will eventually turn out to be like them. We (usually) know better. We idolize them because we can never be like them. If we can be like them then there's no use idolizing them, correct?

It doesn't mean that because we want to live away from you, we hate you. We just want to be independent.

You may question our values but don't judge us if you think they're wrong. For example, it doesn't automatically mean that because we're pro-live in, pro-abortion, agnostics, we're immoral. All those years in Catholic schools finally took their toll. Haha.

In Defense of the Kikays

2009-02-23T05:28:00.000-08:00

When I was still in my 5th grade, I was obsessed with the color pink. I loved anything that has a Barbie or a Sanrio tag with it. I loved everything furry and frilly. I had more skirts than jeans. And I have every shirt in a pastel hue. When I was in 6th grade, I experimented with nail polish. Then I started wearing it everyday during my first year in high school. Yes, I was one of them. I was “kikay”—and I still am.

For so long, the word “kikay” has negative connotations that haunt it. And since I’ve already admitted to be not just jumping in the bandwagon but driving it, I will defend my kind in this article. Brace yourself.

Oh We Are So Keen

Yes we are. The kikay is the one who is never caught dead wearing an outfit that doesn’t look very much “together”. And even when we overdress, we still tend to make our outfits look like something fresh from a fashion magazine-- visually overwhelming but not a disaster. We have our eyes set on the best accessories and when we put on make-up, we make sure that every square millimeter is covered. This keenness is something that we developed only because every day, we cater to every square millimeter of our favorite thing—our bodies. Our eyes can easily dart from one space to another, and we are also fast thinkers. (Imagine putting on a full outfit on hasty days!)

Our-tistry

Most of us are also good with at least one form of art. Notice that most women poets have a casual flair for long, beaded necklaces and character-screaming bangles. Because of our love for details, art comes naturally to us. We are ready-made experts in color (Would this go with a green fedora?), shapes (Which haircut is best for my face?) and texture (Silk or satin?).

We are Not Dumb!

Of course. How else would we know the meaning of the words “exfoliate”, “rejuvenate” and “epidermis” if we never spent a lot of time in the toiletry section, watching the facial creams battle each other out? How else would we always remember how “follicle” is spelled if we didn’t spend time holding mental debates about hot and cold wax? See, we are not dumb. We are very industrious readers.

Before I choose a shampoo or a new facial wash, I read whatever is at its back and I reread it everytime I use that product. Moreover, we study a body system which all of you might deem negligible—the integumentary system. (Have you even heard about it?) For your benefit, it is the body system (just like the nervous and digestive systems) which covers our skin, follicles, glands, hair and nails. This system is our own holy land.

Squeaky-clean

Lastly, the best thing about being kikay is our penchant for anything clean. We are the ones who usually couldn’t sleep at night if we don’t take a half-bath. We carry a sanitizer with us everywhere we go. We clean up our brushes, change the sheets and update our toiletry sets regularly. Our nails are always pristine. Our hair is always where it’s supposed to be. Don’t you just love us? Haha.

See? I doesn’t hurt to be kikay. So, are you one of us? Tell me about it—live_out_loud@ymail.com

Hurrying Childhood

2009-02-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

Another alarming observation about young people: they’re growing up too fast.

I noticed the fashion themes that are usually worn by teenagers and young adults are also worn by kids as early as 3 years old! When skinny jeans were officially declared hot, there were also mini versions of it for kids. When frilly blouses flooded the market, it flooded the kids section as well. And now, plaid. I could actually not walk in a mall corridor without seeing someone wear plaid. (It’s nauseating, believe me.)

The effect that this does to kids is that they actually start to think they think like grownups. Or they’re one of them. Because they already dress like them! See, for kids, dresses are the simplest form of role association. Note that they identify certain societal figures (policepersons, priests, doctors) because of how they dress. Now that they dress just like their ates and mommies, they will begin to think they’re like them. It’s a like a costume party where nobody was invited to yet everybody came.

I remember the time when grown-up clothes are for grown-ups only and kids wore matching (read: Terno) outfits and sunny dresses. I remember the time when kids wore closed shoes with laced socks and not peep-toe sandals or worse, pointed shoes. Sure, they look cute in the clothes that their sisters wear, but couldn’t we delineate the kids and grown-up clothes properly?

Also, the kids are given too much purchasing power. Toys don’t mean trucks and Barbie dolls anymore, but PSPs. Kids as early as those in Senior kinder carry camera phones already. Even the magazine industry is promoting the materialism in kids heavily! Because of this flood in you-need-to-have-this-or-else-you’re-outdated-and-unwanted attitude, kids want unnecessary things more and more incessantly…like the newest shoes, a mani-pedi, hair rebonding. And the peer pressure is biting too hard. So a lot of parents save up for these whims just so their little emperors stop stomping their feet or frowning like a bulldog. Kids have become financial torture personified!

Because of the overwhelming openness of media nowadays, the kids are also getting a lot of sexualized images that they are unaware of. For example, the US preteen series showcase the Western culture of okay-kissing at 10. Remember, this is dangerous because a lot of kids idolize the boys and girls in these preteen shows (e.g. Hannah Montana, Unfabulous, Wizards of Waverly Place). The latest dolls are made with more robust breasts and behinds. A lot of makeup lines offer products which are kid-friendly and hypo-allergenic. (Isn’t makeup for mommy only?) And lastly, the “standards” for beauty are etched in minds that get younger and younger.

My 10-year- old sister used to hate her morena skin because she always read about pretty white girls in magazines. I also remember one of her then-playmates actually went on a “diet” because she thought she was too fat. (Note: She was just eight and weighed around 95 lbs.) Then, one time, while I was at the mall, kids at around 6-9 gathered at a beautiful blouse and adored it because it makes them look “sexy”.

Sigh. To the parents, please PLEASE PLEASE connect with your kids more intimately. There is a frightening possibility that you’ll lose them to gadgets or worse, their peers.
Do you also think the kids are growing up too fast? Or am I just outdated? Tell me what you think. Email me at live_out_loud@ymail.com. And no, I’m not in a hurry.

YOU'RE UGLY!

2009-01-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

let's get one thing straight:
you're ugly.
your face is the landfill
of an AIDS-laden
third world country.
your breath is the smog
on my windshield
your skin is a snake's
hand-me-down
your body is the new planet
which Pluto envies--
a whirlwind of trash,
add a teaspoon of monstrosity
and a bucketful
of hopelessness.
and your forehead,
a helipad.
you are the surplus
of the surplus
of substandard pandesal
everytime I look at you
I feel like I don't have
enough middle fingers
and you actually look good
when I'm not looking.
you are a cuss word
I will never be able to say
though everything I say
that's profane
is a love letter
to you.
DIE.
(that was not a request.)

-I wrote this coz it was fun. This is not inspired by anyone. haha.

What's With the Haste?!

2009-01-25T07:53:00.000-08:00

Young people nowadays love everything to be fast. The culprit I’m eyeing is the oh-so-mighty technology. If there’s one thing that made people more impatient, it’s nothing but technology.

Here’s the thing: people always have escalating expectations. “Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile”, so they say. In the cellular phone arena, when we’ve got texting going on, we asked for mp3. When it was done, we asked for a camera. When it was done, we asked for Internet. When it was done, we asked for touch screen. And today, we ask for all of them in one handy material. (Plus, we want it cheap.) See? We always have a way of outgrowing things easily. One of these things is waiting.

I’ve noticed that online shops are sprouting out of nowhere because a lot of people (yes, I’m guilty of this too) don’t like lining up at the counters or dressing rooms. In fact, in a recent market study, the “waiting for purchase” time is one of the biggest factors for determining store choices among consumers.

Also, a lot of business transactions, aside from those connected with shopping, are also done via the Internet. Because it’s faster. From kitchenware, to real estate, to gift items, everything can be bought online. I know at least 90% of the students in our school who would give up a pair of shoes just for online enrolment to be approved. Bah.

Another thing I feel sorry for is the growing apprehension among teenagers to read something that’s more than 500 words. I remember our literature class when we were tasked to read a short story, which was around 3000 words, 6 pages. All of my classmates whined and even joked about it not being “short” at all. The teacher succumbed to their mumbling and we ended up studying an 800-word excerpt. Sad. These kids didn’t mind having to read multiple blog entries but they were willing to filter something Nick Joaquin wrote.

Lastly, I feel sorry, and I apologize for being impatient now. I’m trying my best to be patient but sometimes, the speed I am used to, when it’s not the speed that I’m running, I just snap. I dare not touch dial-up internet anymore. I find myself riding the cab more than usual because I don’t like waiting for a jeepney. I take the stairs to the 7th floor because I don’t like lining up outside the elevator. I eat lunch-in-a-box because it’s fast and saucy. (But mostly because it’s fast.) I know a lot of people who feel just like this, even worse.

The ultimate result with all these hurrying is that people are now expected to do more in a day. And because people are hurrying always, people have less time to connect with one another. I think that’s the biggest thing that we should feel sorry for. After all, when we become annoyed with something we regard as slow, we are clothed with bad mood and people will think twice about approaching us. Moreover, people are also more sensitive about “taking one’s time” because it seems like everyone’s in a hurry.

And because we’re always running fast, let me ask you a question: what fuels us? What are we running for? Or running away from? Enlighten me.

Back in the Game

2009-01-19T03:25:00.000-08:00

The thing about love is that it never gets too tiring, and it never gets old.
No matter how it wears your heart down,
how you swear you won't ever dip a toe in the pool,
you're back, plunging in it, taking in the stride.

The thing about love is that it changes you, moves your soul just a little bit and opens your eyes towards everything that you have to thank God for. It alters your beliefs and erases your education, writes over a brand new set of beliefs.

And even if it hurts so much you start trying to kill yourself, you lick your wounds, look for the next best thing, and before you know it, you're looking at another future heartache.

And you're back in the game, biatch.

When Technology Gets Too Personal

2009-01-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I saw the saddest technologically-induced sight: four friends eating together in one table but not talking. The culprit: mp3 players.

The thing about MP3 players is that they make one feel not alone and they create a bubble of companionship for the owner. What we don’t usually see and feel is that this bubble is slowly getting thicker and thicker until we lose contact of other human beings.

Today, the MP3 player is more than just an MP3 player. It may also come with videos, photos and other multimedia files. This makes this gadget all-mighty (in its truest sense) and it appeals to our senses very invasively. The newest headphones are even made with noise cancellators to make the experience of hearing music more “sensual”. Simply put, these players are designed to substitute what human beings can offer!

I’ve always been anti-MP3 so when these MP3 players have flooded the market and people have been using and buying those more frequently I’ve observed human behavior curiously. I found out that people who don’t know each other and happen to be in the same place lost—or immensely reduced-- eye contact. People in the jeepney, inside an elevator, lining up to pay bills…almost everywhere! Before, people try to chat each other up or exchange quick pleasantries. Today, they’re listening to God-knows-what.

See, with an MP3, if you are with a person you don’t know, it’s easier to put the headset on and remain a stranger. However, without an MP3, you are somehow forced to make do of whatever is there to entertain you or to eat your time. So you will get to know the person. For the side of that other person, an MP3 player makes one look “occupied”, therefore there is no motivation for that person to also get to know you if you’re glued to your MP3 player.

Also, the MP3 player has become the lifesaver for boredom. Throw in a boring teacher or a lousy speaker and the MP3 player will instantly wear a halo. Instead of trying to listen to other people and, perhaps, try to stretch one’s attention span, it’s more convenient to just whip out the headsets.

Don’t get me wrong; MP3 players can also serve people well. In fact, I believe that its ultimate use is to be the last resort to save one’s self from deafening silence or immense boredom (for example, waiting for plane-boarding or six-hours-and-longer bus rides). But aside from situations similar with those aforementioned, the MP3 player should be put away.

By the way, in my class, whenever we wait for the professor to arrive, my classmates almost don’t talk to each other because they’re glued to their MP3s (or cellular phones or PSPs). Technology has gone too personal! Whatever happened to “Connecting People”?!

Bring a handy book instead of an MP3 player. Have enough courage to talk and smile to strangers. Picture these scenes. Isn’t it a better-looking place to live in?

-published at Mindanao Times' "To Live Out Loud" Wednesdays; Opinion Page

Words Women Say

2009-01-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

FINE
This is the word women use to end an argument whenthey are right and you need to shut up.

FIVE MINUTES
If she is getting dressed, this is half an hour.Five minutes is only five minutes if you have justbeen given 5 more minutes to watch the game beforehelping around the house.

NOTHING
This is the calm before the storm. This means"something," and you should be on your toes.Arguments that begin with 'Nothing' usually end in"Fine"

GO AHEAD
This is a dare, not permission. Don't do it.

LOUD SIGH
This is not actually a word, but is a non-verbalstatement often misunderstood by men. A "LoudSigh" means she thinks you are an idiot andwonders why she is wasting her time standing hereand arguing with you over "Nothing"

THAT'S OKAY
This is one of the most dangerous statements thata woman can make to a man. "That's Okay" meansthat she wants to think long and hard beforedeciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

THANKS
A woman is thanking you. Do not question it orfaint. Just say you're welcome.

When Casual Becomes Derogatory

2008-12-29T21:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was moved (in a sad, bad way) by three different people who regarded homosexuals/ gays as people who are..lesser than human beings. Here are the different encounters:

Encounter # 1:

I was waiting for someone who purchased the gift items I sell online. My customer was a lesbian. She was running really late and someone who wanted to have dinner with me was getting pissed because I was also running late. And then my friend said, “Niabot na ang tomboy? Buang na tomboy dugayan kaayo, madamay ta.” (Did the dyke already arrive? Crazy dyke, she’s delaying us.)

Encounter # 2:

I haven’t heard from Carlisse* for a long time and when I ran into Bryan*, I asked how Carlisse was doing. (They’re childhood friends.)
Me: How is Carlisse? Is she using a new number? She didn’t reply to the Christmas greetings I SMS-ed her.
Bryan: Oh, nothing’s new about her. She’s still the same old tibo (lesbian) that she is.
And then Bryan snickered.

Encounter # 3:

We’ll this wasn’t an exchange really. I just heard a song from Katy Perry, a new artist, someone who’s tagged by most music reviewers as “sassy and cool”. The lines of the song are:

You don’t eat meat
And drive electrical cars
You’re so indie rock it’s almost an art
You need SPF 45 just to stay alive
You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys

For every encounter, I got startled. Disturbed, even. If you examine all the encounters, you will notice that the word “gay” or any other term that pertains to a homosexual was used a derogatory term. Well, it may not be intended, really, to malign a person or a subculture but it was derogatory. In fact, if you review the way the gay words were used, add a little angst to the tone and you’ve got something that stands at the same stage with “piece of sh*t” or “freak of nature”.

Something that’s casually derogatory is, for me, the worst form of discrimination. It is the kind of oppression that seeps through one’s bones and is being imprinted at the discriminator’s soul. Sure, it may not hurl hurting words in loud voices and finger-pointing but it hurts the minority all the more. The thing with this form of subtlety is that it defines the heart of discrimination—privilege presumption. Discrimination doesn’t really have a purpose; most people discriminate without intending to, without thought, without reason. Discrimination happens because people think they can get away with it. People think it’s a privilege and they know that it’s “acceptable”. And this mindset is dangerous, when it snowballs, because it normalizes discrimination.

It’s just like jaywalking in Davao. People don’t just wake up and tell themselves “Oh I feel like I want to jaywalk today!” People jaywalk because they know they can do it and subsequently get away with it.

See how far casual could go? And I thought “casual” was a fashion theme. Bah. Tell me what you think.

Bitches Celebrate Christmases Too

2008-12-24T10:29:00.001-08:00

Dear Varsity,

Have a meaningful Christmas.

After all, what's merry without meaning? =)

I'm very busy. As usual, my calendar is packed. Where do I buy extra hours for the day? Extra days in a week? Extra weeks in a month? Bah. Let's enjoy the break for all it's worth...or not.

♥

Seriously, Singlehood Rocks!

2008-12-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

Recently, the single bug bit me…hard. I’ve read a number of write-ups and blog entries which feature people who rant about their being single, how “time is running out” and how finding “The One” gets harder and harder each day.

I have a problem with this mindset. See, society (plus media) have always led us to believe that we are part of a “whole” and to be “whole” is to find one’s “significant other” (also commonly referred to as “the other half”). This assumes that we are born lacking something, and everything we do must be geared towards finding that something which we lack.

The thing is, one is born complete. We are not in a search for The One but we are The One. We are a pixel in this world and we have individual missions, passions and contributions. If you are in a romantic relationship now and still achieve the same fullness, Kudos.

One reason for the pressure in finding “The One” is how we understand the word “single”. Oftentimes, we connect the word single with being solitary, lonely and simply alone. In fact, the term “matandang dalaga” can be a valid societal insult because of its connotations (that perhaps, that person is so unlovable, unattractive or not rich enough). It’s hard but, we have to take a 180-degree turn. To be single or being in a relationship doesn’t really mean anything…unless you experience growth in it.

I remember Samantha Jones from Sex and the City throwing an I-don’t-have-a-baby shower and Carrie Bradshaw giving herself a pair of good-looking shoes because she is celebrating a marriage to herself. That she will cherish herself and take care of herself as much as she would to a lover. Sure, let’s do that.

So a Spouse Hunt is not really necessary.

However, this Spouse Hunt has poisoned a lot of youth’s minds today! Networking sites are getting bigger and bigger, dating columns have gotten longer, tips on how to “catch his eye, “snag the perfect guy” and “keep the fire burning” are constant bestsellers. Bah. Makes the Spouse Hunt a full time job! And what’s more annoying is that society also has dictated gender assignments. Woman should wait for the man to make his move, woman should keep the man in the relationship and understand when he cheats because “boys will be boys”. Etcetera, etcetera.
Let’s take a breather and step back from the poison of society’s impositions.

Truth is, after break-ups, people realize how much they’ve missed when they were in a relationship. Conversely, when they WERE in the relationship, they didn’t think they were missing a lot because they were having the best time of their lives. Singlehood brings you back to where you want to be, where you intended to be and what you have worked for all your life. Singlehood is insulated from the complications of hormonal floods, provides spaces for self-assessment and “catching up” with friends and family.

Dearest, rest your heart for a while and enjoy your life. Lover or no lover, you are The One. Tell me about you. Who’s in a hurry?

Dear Varsity, (Dec. 4, 2008)

2008-12-04T06:36:00.001-08:00

I started being acquainted with poetry again. And I found this very beautiful poem.

THIS WAS ONCE A LOVE POEM
by Jane Hirshfield

This was once a love poem, before its haunches thickened, its breath grew short, before it found itself sitting, perplexed and a little embarrassed, on the fender of a parked car, while many people passed by without turning their heads. It remembers itself dressing as if for a great engagement. It remembers choosing these shoes, this scarf or tie. Once, it drank beer for breakfast, drifted its feet in a river side by side with the feet of another. Once it pretended shyness, then grew truly shy, dropping its head so the hair would fall forward, so the eyes would not be seen. It spoke with passion of history, of art. It was lovely then, this poem. Under its chin, no fold of skin softened. Behind the knees, no pad of yellow fat. What it knew in the morning it still believed at nightfall. An unconjured confidence lifted its eyebrows, its cheeks. The longing has not diminished. Still it understands. It is time to consider a cat, the cultivation of African violets or flowering cactus. Yes, it decides: Many miniature cacti, in blue and red painted pots. When it finds itself disquieted by the pure and unfamiliar silence of its new life, it will touch them—one, then another— with a single finger outstretched like a tiny flame.

I managed to hide my tears for a while...but then I eventually gave in. Ta ta! Can't show up tomorrow with eyes which look like coinbank holes. haha. Good night! =)

♥

Dear Varsity, (Dec. 2, 2008)

2008-12-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Today I just got my heart broken. It's for something that you might not understand. It's not the usual L-word. Bitches operate differently. But we still got hearts. Here, right in the middle of our chests.

Oh well. What a delightful way to start the Christmas season. (at least for me, it's still starting for me.) Where can I buy some cheer? I mean, beer?

Catch ya later.

♥

In Defense of the Gamers

2008-11-19T18:39:00.000-08:00

You probably have heard about Ragnarok, DotA, Generals or Flyff. One way or another, these things are being looked down upon by a lot of people because of the way it poisons the minds of students. Yeah, we hate gamers and we view them as no-good individuals because they are always locked to a keyboard and marveling in their own little (violent?) worlds.

Actually, gaming has a lot of benefits. In fact, it may even be a viable alternative to formal education! Just kidding. However, seriously, it can reap major benefits. Let’s start.

It’s Still a Game

Competition fuels gamers. Just like how dean’s -listers vie for the Valedictorian award and those dance sport varsity members. The goal is always to outwit the enemy, to destroy his laid-out plans and to come up with the best position in the game possible. There’s even bargaining of items and tactic reading! Dedicated gamers are equipped with the competitive spirit, something that’s not very encouraged as aggressively in schools. (Hey, that’s the reason why we have more employees than entrepreneurs. Shh.)

Skill is King

Simply put, skill is the most important asset in gaming. The rules of the game are learned, familiarized and most of all mastered. One can’t possibly let themselves invest time and efforts in the game if it doesn’t come with a ladderized goal. Basically, the stages get harder and harder and your enemy also gets better and better. So, one has to really keep up.

Moreover, the variety of games available also improves the skill of faster learning for the gamer. I remember how my gamer classmates in high school know more than ten different games in different natures and master at least 3 of those games. According to them, gaming improved the way they learn and master new things, and again, that’s probably something that our educational system should develop further.

Camaraderie Improvement

Most people who like spending time in the Internet are often regarded as people who may not have very good social skills because they’re hiding behind a monitor. In gaming, people (virtual or real) get to team up with each other and they work out a strategy. It still has the basics of a real-life team like accountability for the team mate and matching of skills.

Also, studies show that the people who “game-up” in the virtual world most likely end up real friends. They are the ones who see each other frequently in Internet Cafes. So after they play, they end up talking. Although they just talk about the game at the start, as the ball gets rolling, eventually they’ll become comfortable with each other. Remember that frequency in exposure brings normalcy, which brings ease.

I just think that gamers should not be perceived as “lazy” at all. Or dumb. I know a gamer who is a Mindanao Champion in debate. I know a lot of gamers who belong to their honors classes. Excess is bad, and that’s a known fact. However, it doesn’t only apply to gaming. If you like dancing or painting and if you spend a lot of time on those things and forget your studies then that’s just as bad.

So that’s it for gamers (and their parents). I mean, I think anyone would pick gaming over drugs any day, won’t he? You may email me your views through live_out_loud@ymail.com.

from www.mindanaotimes.com.ph written by Bitch Varsity coach

Dear Varsity, (Nov 10, 2008)

2008-11-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

Today is Monday. As usual, it is very hectic. I had to choose between three different lunch offers. (Sucks to be perfect, ain't it?)

Anyway, I can't wait to get out of school, own a laptop, and earn endless kaching. The more I write, the more I realize that I should have taken college waaaaaay later. Oh well. At least I met a lot of cuties along the way, and learned about, erm, synthetic division(?)

My friends and I in the Young Writers Guild (under the umbrella of the Davao Writers Guild) will be organizing a poetry-reading event prolly this December at MTS. Just drop a line if you wanna come. =) Ta ta! Gotta get back to my to-do list!

♥

One Lucky Bitch!

2008-11-07T08:46:00.000-08:00

Come to think of it, in this lifetime, I was able to experience/hear about (because they actually happend):

*The Philippine Centennial--which was uber fun. Suddenly the flag was cool. Haha.

*The Millenium--which was silly, because everyone thought it would be the end of the world.

*The First Female Bishop in the Developing World--which broke the glass ceiling for a lot of women who shone in the Church.

*The First African-American US President--which was supposed to signal the triumph of the minorities in US. But no, Proposition 8 also won. =(

*The L Word--controversial. realistic. hot.

*Kris Aquino--Now I can easily connect with a Filipino stranger. Everybody hates(if not "dislikes") her.

Wow. Ain't I one lucky bitch? =)

Cheating in a Rush

2008-10-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

There are days when we are rushing to get out of the door and so we throw a lot of things in our body, praying that it will all turn out to be fashionably acceptable and erm, decent.
Actually, there are ways when we can cheat looking made-up when the truth is, wardrobe management is an alien idea to us.

1. Match your shoes with your bag. Have a fashionable bag and shoes in the same color by your side whenever you're in a hurry. If your bag matches your shoes, you will instantly look made up. It won't matter if your jeans are green and your shirt is purple. If your bag and shoes are both red, you'll look fine. I advise that the color of the shoes and the bag be neutral so they're sure to tone down whatever mayhem you got in our outfit going.

2. Wear a cool hat. This is most useful when you're having a bad hair day or if you forgot to tweeze your brows. It makes for a brave fashion statement and oftentimes, girls look awfully cute in them. It is also useful if you are not so confident about your choice in footwear or bottoms since a hat will drive the attention towards your face.

3. Go monochrome. The easiest way to steer clear of being a fashion disaster is to go monochrome. One color only. Zip. Nada. This way, it wouldn't matter if a tank top goes well with a skirt or jeans or shorts. As long as they're the same color, they're designed to "belong to family". At least you won't have to think which patterns match.

4. Back to basic. Have a ready stash of white tees, black tees, denim jeans and everyday shoes which are clean. They help in putting up a decent outfit during days when you've been ambushed by your friends for an instant shopping day or an on-the-spot date-me technique. It's also easier to experiment with accents (a big flower clip, a colorful scarf, gypsy necklaces, etc.) when you're wearing neutral-looking clothes.

I made this article for me. I dunno why I always fall under the waking-up-too-late-30-mins-left-to-leave-home spell. =)

Boys Like Girls

2008-10-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

*was published in Edge

Trends have always amused me. Trends have the power to change the mindset of an individual and in fact, redirect his goals/priorities. There are trends which I’ve embraced (e.g. the pixie haircut, skinny jeans, bangs) and trends which I resist no matter how strong their influences are (e.g. one-length bangs, ipod video, emo). Basically, when I evaluate a trend, it’s goes beyond LOOKING GOOD ON ME but its impact on how I feel, and how I behave in light of that trend. Hair straightening is by far the strongest trend I’ve resisted. My hair is unruly at times and I hate it when it flies away (wow, fly-away is a verb?). However, I didn’t want to erase the “life” it has on days when it curls inward..and it’s really adorable.

But I gave in, eventually.

Okay, I’m losing myself in this hair discussion. Let’s get back to trends. In this post, I will be discussing AND EVALUATING fashion trends which are shared by both sexes. So let’s start.

CHECKERED/PLAID SHORTS

These shorts usually look good on women, especially those which are designed like Bermuda shorts or those which are uber short, they ought to consider exposing your, um, Bermuda Triangle. Women who wear these shorts are tagged as cool or chic. Men, on the other hand, when they wear this trend, they are automatically tagged as metrosexual (or approaching queer radius). Sad. I know a lot of guys, usually mocha-skinned, who look good enough to eat when wearing plaid.

CHUCK TAYLORS

Or also widely held as “Chucks”. Hands down to this trend. This is, by far, the most timeless trend that boys and girls should embrace alike. In fact, if you look at your pictures growing up, you would see yourself somewhere fun and wearing Chucks. It’s simple, classic and most of all, versatile. You can wear it with shorts, skirts, jeans, cropped pants and even dresses!

BRIGHT-COLORED JEANS

If you’re born with the XY chromosome, steer clear from this trend if you don’t wanna be called GAY. I’ve always regarded bright-colored jeans as eyesores. Primarily because when a group of girls wear bright –colored jeans and huddle together, they look like a bilao of Good-Morning kakanin. BCJ(bright-colored jeans) look good on women, especially those with fair complexion, but they shouldn’t be overdone by wearing equally bright tops. (Ever heard of early warning devices?) Regarding men wearing bright-colored jeans, this trend is too delicate that men who want to wear this must really be widely known as straight. (You know what I mean.) It sucks right? However, there’s a proper way of wearing this trend. Pair it with a neutral-colored shirt and accessories. This way, you look more like a person, not like Christmas gone wrong.

PINK!

I’m so glad that men who wear pink nowadays are not anymore regarded as gay. I’ve read somewhere that before the 1940s, pink was a really “manly” color until capitalism struck. Pink and baby blue was hailed by media as the official his-and-hers baby colors, thereby imposing gender-exclusive expectations on colors. Until now, pink and baby blue are still his-and-hers colors; however, pink has become more dynamic. I remember when pink was so cool because it was so girly. That, guys who don’t usually wear pink challenge their machismo by wearing pink. And when they do wear pink and still maintain their usual “manly” selves, it was a form of achievement. Amen!

Find Unique Gifts

2008-10-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Make someone smile in a very special way.

If you have a multiply account, kindly add up www.giftsdavao.multiply.com. If you don't have a multiply account, kindly check it anyway.

It is a Davao-based home business and they are selling unique gift items for reasonable prices. =)

Why Great Love Stories Happen in College (Part 2)

2008-10-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

A Wider Market

College is our social debut. We become exposed to different circles, mostly circles which feed our interests. If you study in a university, there are numerous clubs where you can entrench in. Moreover, there’s the everyday cycle of meeting A LOT of people at the same age bracket as yours. There’s the presence of irregular students, friends of friends, and even young and available professors! Basically, one gains a statistical advantage in the opening of a wider prospect pool for that one great love.

Perfect Timing

The normal college age bracket is 16-23 years old. If you examine this bracket, this is the point of your life when you have to be definitive of the decisions that you make about your life. It is the transitionary phase from dependence to independence. When we find significant others within this age bracket, we tend to align our futures with them. In effect, our love stories become as definitive as our chosen careers.

Say, when we have a lover at our junior year, we plan our senior year with that person factored in and when we reach senior year, we leave school in line with the plans of this lover. This is one of the reasons why a lot of couples who ended up in the altar met during college. Notice also that when married couples are asked where they met, when they answer “college”, people tend to understand why and don’t bother asking other questions.

College Celebrates YOU!

Remember when you were in high school you viewed college as a freer arena? Well it’s true. In college you can choose your schedule, wear-as-you-wish your clothes, your hair and your accessories. College offers avenues where you can practice AND exhibit your skills (speech, dance, music, literary, etc.). College also trains you to become what profession you intend to take. All of these things define you as a person. And college, as an institution, celebrates the heart of every person.

When YOU are being celebrated for being YOU, you become more confident about who you are. You tend to be at your best, and you are willing to showcase your being. When you are at your best, you are easy to love. When two “bests” find each other and cherish each other, anybody can bet they can last forever…or at least half of it. LOL.

Have you found your own great love story? Go to college and tell me about it. live_out_loud@ymail.com

Why Great Love Stories Happen in College (Part 1)

2008-09-30T08:19:00.001-07:00

Why Great Love Stories Happen in College

If you’ve found that one person who completes you, who lights up your day and most of all, who promises to cherish you for the rest of his/her life, you might have met him/her during college. If you didn’t, I’m certain you’ve met someone who fit in the same profile when you were still in college. What’s with college?

In this article I will be discussing about why the college environment is most conducive for great love stories and of course, why you never noticed.

Maturity Spurs

When we were still in the process of choosing our college course, we were faced with the threat of changing the itinerary of our lives. Through this, we are pushed to think, act and behave maturely so as to make the best decision possible. This is the first form of forced maturity that we learn to wear as we approach college life.

As we go through college we are confronted with everyday social evils (e.g. an overconfident pal, monster profs, but-I-was-drunk! incidents, etc.). Through these evils, we become emotionally polished as individuals and then we keep on learning about life in such a short span of time. Love demands maturity and maturity is a free enterprise in college.

Your Heart is at its Prime

In line with being mature, great love stories happen in college because college shapes our personality in such a way that we reach a full circle, that which declares us “whole”. Notice that debut parties happen in college and it is at this point when a “girl” becomes a “woman”. And jeeringly, “boys” become “men” through informal rites such as losing their virginity or downing a liter of beer. Men and women are terms which connote wholeness.

When we feel whole, it is at this point when we are most willing to share our wholeness with another person. It is with such maturity that we become ready to give ourselves to a significant other. College, as a mosaic of emotional, social, mental and physical pressures, facilitates the achievement for such wholeness.

The Element of Definitive-ness

Moreover, college has a feel of “definitive-ness” in it. We are forced to look ahead, to know ahead and to move ahead. In college, we determine WHAT WE REALLY WANT. When we know what we REALLY WANT, we look for it. When we are in this level of certainty, it’s easy to weed out that one person whom we desire for reasons which we may or may not know.

(watch out for Part 2. This article is longer than a footspa and pedicure.)

Growing Up Not So Beautiful

2008-09-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

Growing up, I was made to believe that I'm not beautiful (except siguro sa akong pamilya hehe).

I remember when I was still in my 2nd Grade, I was elected as the Muse simply because they wanted to pair me up with a "funny looking" guy. Fast forward til 6th grade, every boy I liked didn't like me back. (And crushing was highly highly 99.9% physical.) Well, it was because I really didn't care about how I looked. I played a lot, ran a lot, read a lot. I was buringit. Haha.

I didn't really behaved "femininely". I played pogs with guys, didn't bring a comb, ate junkfood a lot and loved mangga+bagoong sold outside Holy Child. Looking back, I think it was the reason why no boy ever liked me. Haha. I was chinita, but back then, by some cosmic whim, chinitas weren't really beautiful. The "beautiful" ones were those who are tisay, the Caucasian tisay.

I tried to excel in arts, academics and sports (because I can't excel in the "beauty field" anyway). I was so good at math, I was member of the dance troupe for 5 years, I learned how to play table tennis and I wrote. I did all of those because I felt that I had to compensate for not looking good enough. Even my friends never regarded me as beautiful. Haha.

When I was in Grade 6, I super duper liked this boy. I was gushing about him for a whole year. I levelled up in my arts, academics and sports...just so he'd like me. Then by March, I gave up.

During the summer, ongoing high school, a close friend told me that that guy was eyeing me for a very long time. I asked why. She told me he "thinks I'm beautiful".

A SHOUT OUT!

2008-09-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO NICK JONAS,
the nth love of my life.

i do not love you as if you were
a boy, a real boy, an alive human being
i love you as certain superficial (cute) things are to be loved
in shallowness, between the IQ of
a doorknob and the personality of a vacuum cleaner
i love you as the plant that never blooms
which i never care to water anyway
and thanks to your love, darkly, in my body
is an alarming mental catastrophe.
i love you without knowing how
when, or from where
i love you straightforwardly,
without complexities and logic
i love you this way because i am a deranged woman
with a severe case of reverse aging.

(Sorry Neruda.) haha.

When Numbers Hurt

2008-09-12T20:58:00.001-07:00

How to Fight Aging Like a Wise Business Student
By: Brunx
Edited by: bitchvarsity

Many people do not know what to do the moment they see those wrinkles around their eyelids, those cursed age spots and even feel that aching sensation somewhere below their backs. People, the world over, fear this phenomenon of getting old; a sign of supposed great knowledge and wisdom is now nothing more than a mere numerological anomaly. And for us business students, numbers are not always good news.

Experts in various fields have been in and about the whole situation in trying to look for cures to this misguided notion of “age”. Products such as anti-aging creams that promise to bring back your youthful ray, different medications that swear they can make you five years younger have, indeed, gone a long way. Some even go as far as to opt for operation just to knock off a few years off their look.

Here are but some of the many ways on how to get a grip with your age (minus the overspending):

1. Shape up or Ship out!

Changing the way you feel on the outside is always most direct way! Many people think that just because you gain that belly, you age a decade more into your look. So work loving your PE class, forego the elevator use, or play outdoor sports with your clique for dozens of hearty work-outs! Plus, you could use some natural blush when the worksheets start to haunt you!

2. Change is always great!

Don’t settle for the same look you had for ages- no wonder you feel old! Play around with your look! This allows you to explore your flexibility in the many ways you can carry yourself. Go wild! Whatever you feel is holding you back in the way feel about yourself- do away with it and fast! Remember that the beauty of youth is also being unpredictable and original. The quicker you change those irritating drapes the sooner you’ll feel the change!

3. Hang out with the people YOU actually like.

Always think of it this way; there are people you have to hang out with, but never forget the people you want to either. After dealing with the not so fun people around you, give yourself time to vent! Hang out with your “old” high school friends, call a club buddy and hang out in a bar, you can even ring your neighbor next door and go to the nearest garden expo all night; anything to keep your mind away from being the “old” you!

4. Balance things out.

Whether it’s being with your friends, your latest Philo paper or your club’s next G.A., always keep things in the way you like to deal with them! It doesn’t mean that because you’re hurdling with 29 units this sem that you’re justified to forget to update your Multiply account or at least text your best friend good night. It’s all about time management. I know many people who are good at this---even when they don’t have management subjects!

5. Think positively- NUMBERS LIE!!!

Yes, don’t take it seriously! The one thing you need to remember (and maybe fear) is the word “stagnation”. Keep yourself busy and have fun doing it because it doesn’t really matter what they think- its all about you. Business students are always accused of taking their studies too seriously. Remember to have fun ALL THE TIME. And don’t forget to smile! Studies show that the mere act of curving your lips upward releases endorphins (a get-happy hormone) throughout your body. Trust me, it’s better than any drug in the world.

At the end of the day, you may predict market shifts or inflation. However, you really cannot predict every aging feature that’ll eventually come out. The fact is everyone gets old. It’s all about how you deal with the “problem” that makes you age a lot less faster!

10 CONYOmmandments

2008-09-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

by Gerry Avelino and Arik Abu

1. Thou shall make gamit "make+pandiwa".
ex. "Let's make pasok na to our class!"
"Wait lang! I'm making kain pa!"
"Come on na, we can't make hintay anymore! It's in Andrew pa, you know?"

2. Thou shall make kalat "noh", "diba" and "eh" in your pangungusap.
ex. "I don't like to make lakad in the baha nga, no? Eh diba it's like, so eew, diba?"
"What ba: stop nga being maarte noh?"
"Eh as if you want naman also, diba?"

3. When making describe a whatever, always say "It's SO pang-uri!"
ex. "It's so malaki, you know, and so mainit!"
"I know right? So sarap nga, eh!"
"You're making me inggit naman.. I'll make bili nga my own burger."

4. When you are lalaki, make parang punctuation "dude", 'tsong" or "pare"
ex. "Dude, ENGANAL is so hirap, pare."
"I know, tsong, I got bagsak nga in quiz one, eh"

5. Thou shall know you know? I know right!
ex. "My bag is so bigat today, you know"
"I know, right! We have to make dala pa kasi the jumbo Physics book eh!"

6. Make gawa the plural of pangngalans like in English or Spanish.
ex. "I have so many tigyawats, oh!"

7. Like, when you can make kaya, always use like. Like, I know right?
ex. "Like, it's so init naman!"
"Yah! The aircon, it's, like sira!"

8. Make yourself feel so galing by translating the last word of your sentence, you know, your pangungusap?
ex. "Kakainis naman in the LRT! How plenty tao, you know, people?"
"It's so tight nga there, eh, you know, masikip?"

9. Make gamit of plenty abbreviations, you know, daglat?
ex. "Like, OMG! It's like traffic sa LRT"
"I know right? It's so kaka!"
"Kaka?"
"Kakaasar!"

10. Make gamit the pinakamaarte voice and pronunciation you have para full effect!
ex. "I'm, like, making aral at the Arrhneo!"
"Me naman, I'm from Lazzahl!"

Fun and Straight!

2008-09-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

So I straightened my hair. Big deal.

It's my first time to have my hair relaxed, because I always believed that women with straight hair are boring. (It has a lot to do with the its ease, organization and cruise-through texture.) I always regarded women with wavy or curly hair as women with a spunky attitude and spontaneity.

Yesterday, I went to Bunawan for my Theology community immersion. We rode a jeepney back and forth, and when the day ended, my hair needed a rake for a comb. I went to a nearby salon to get a hot oil (and shampoo). When I got there, I felt the urge to be more adventurous and decided to get a Hair Relax. The result was good. When I left the salon, I was a different person.

Not really.

The new hair is good, it takes less time to style. The only downside of getting your hair straightened is the 3-day-no-washing-of-hair-after-the-treatment thing. This morning, I was staring at myself in the mirror and thinking about the treatment. At first, I regretted it because I am now one of the women I used to describe as "no-fun". And then I realized, hey, I'm almost 19, I lived with so much fun, perhaps too much, that if I am no-fun now, the fun quota in my life will still be compensated! (Weird principle huh? LOL.)

But I'm not no-fun. And so are the other girls out there who have straight hair. Who you are is louder than what you say. Whatever empowers you, that's fun.

Are Women Candidates for Hair Transplant?

2008-08-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

If you think of the word “balding”, you may immediately imagine middle-aged men with receding hair lines. Although there are more men turning towards hair restoration procedures, women are also candidates for hair transplant. Women also have the threat of losing their hair more rapidly than the normal way because of the different chemicals they wash and style their hair with.

Answering the Question

So yes, women are actually candidates for hair transplant. In fact, studies show that 6 out of 10 women suffer from balding or hair loss/ thinning of hair. As there are newer methods of hair transplant which appear more natural and long-lasting, women have a lot of options to looking good (with hair!) again.

Hair Loss/ Thinning Vs. Balding

Balding is the process where hairs fall off and no new hairs will grow in their place. Hair loss/ thinning is simply the loss of hair in certain areas of the head and the possibility of other hair “replacements” is possible, however, may be achieved after quite a long time. This nuance is something that you should remember so that you will know how to properly deal with your situation.

Also, hair loss is different for women. While men lose their hair by becoming bald and the baldness starting from their foreheads or at the crown, women’s hair just thins out and the hairs in the front and the sides usually remain intact. It’s like a Barbie doll-look.

When women start seeing stray hairs in their pillows, they easily become shaken. This is because of women’s fear of becoming bald. You know how the hair is paid much attention when it comes to judging a woman’s beauty. In fact, the words “crowning glory” are directly associated with the hair. So, when something unusual is happening to a woman’s hair (e.g. become burnt by hair iron, has the wrong cut, “died” because of a hair treatment gone wrong), it is utterly heartbreaking for the woman. Yes, even hair loss/thinning.

The Social Battle

Whenever the quality of the hair is being threatened, a woman easily loses her confidence. There will be even more dangerous psychological results in this losing of self-confidence. In fact, there have been cases of suicide which were directly linked to a woman’s hair loss. A lot of people think about a woman’s hair loss as a symbol of femininity voidance.

If you’re one of these women who suffer from hair loss, if it’s not that grave yet, don’t overanalyze things. You need to quantify first what’s “hair loss” and what’s not. This is because it is normal to shed off 50-100 strands of hair every day. They just, naturally, fall off. They fall off when you brush your hair, when you walk around, when you do and undo your hairstyle and even whenever you tuck hair behind your ear. However, if you think the number that you see in your hairbrush + the bathroom + your pillow is abnormal, perhaps you’re suffering really from hair loss/ thinning.

What you need to remember is that sometimes, it’s only you who is being paranoid about the thinness of your hair. If it’s not really that obvious, do not lose confidence in yourself. There have been a lot of stories about patients overrating the mere thinning of their hair and directly concluding hair loss. Because of this, they skipped attending a lot of social gatherings and missed out on a lot of things. Do not fall into this trap. The best thing that you can do is to simply see a specialist.

Finding the Right Cure

There are a lot of things in the market which promise thicker hair, a healthier scalp and some creams which encourage hair growth. However, these things are not really curable especially if the case is really grave. Take for example women who have clumps of hair falling when they brush their hair. It’s as if they’ve undergone Chemotherapy! The superpower shampoos and wonder creams won’t be able to cure these things, and you should remember that. Only a hair transplant surgery or any other medical hair restoration procedure will solve that problem.

For women, there are a lot of options to choose from. First, there is a cosmetic procedure known as “extensions installation” where the there is a semblance of “grafting” but it doesn’t really include having donor tissues. It just “extends” the hairs and thus make it look fuller and longer. Second, there is an anti-baldness pill called Propecia. It has recently been proven safe for women. Third, there is always the option of a hair restoration procedure or a hair transplant, which costs relatively higher but, with good research, will give you a better result.

Why We Love Coffee Shops

2008-08-18T00:21:00.001-07:00

Davao City is famous for it's livability. One reason for such fame is Davao's "relaxed" atmosphere. Meaning, Davaoeños prefer a more "relaxed" lifestyle. Notice that there are less night clubs and bars in Davao than in Cebu or Manila. Also, there is the budding of spa stations, salons and massage parlors; nameless or franchised.

What I will be discussing in this blog post is the trend which plagues Davao city: the rise of coffee shops. If you stand somewhere in Claveria, San Pedro or Bajada, for every coffee shop, there is another coffee shop within a 5 meter radius. What's with the coffee shop craze?

It's Luxurious

People just love the G-L-Amourous life...yes, even if it's something that they don't really have. Coffee, tea, pasta and meals served in coffee shops are expensive. And at times, they're not even gastronomically worth it! However, people hang out at coffee shops (and even dine there!) because they're expensive. It makes them feel rich and luxurious. Hanging out at a coffee shop is a "lease" for Class A life.

It's Relaxing

Coffee shop interior design and architecture are designed to relax a person. From the shapes (Zen, Asian Tropical, whatever you call it) to the colors to the materials being used to put together a coffee shop atmosphere provides ease to our senses, which evokes relaxation from within.

Lately, technology forces us to do things which we were not capable of doing before. Technology pushes us to achieve things which we may have not thought of before. In effect, because of technology, people are actually doing MORE than they used to. So, a little form of relaxation is something that we are willing to pay for even if it costs us a lot. Coffee shops provide relaxation. And I'm often guilty of being under this spell.

It's the Coffee

Okay, okay. Sometimes, it's just the coffee. Brewing coffee at home everyday is tedious. If you're the kind of person who is (a little) impatient, then of course, you'd just prefer dropping by a coffee shop near your office/school. Moreover, maybe the beans which coffee shops use are better, or that their machine is better. So, yeah, sometimes, it's the coffee.

It's the In-Thang

Everybody does it..Sure. The rise of coffee shops have literally raised the bar on drinking-coffee activities. Before, first dates were dinner-and-movie. Now, first dates are "coffee"! Today, more and more business transactions are even closed in coffee shops! (Talk about real estate, buy-and-sell products and even business interviews!) The coffee shop as a rendezvous have been normalized because of it's massive exposure and frequency of this exposure towards us. Through this normalization people "expect" to do certain things at coffee shops because everybody does it anyway.

It's the Experience

To sum it all up, the reason why we love coffee shops is because of the experience that comes with it. We recognize that having coffee, "hanging out" and dining at coffee shops is expensive but we still choose to do so because of the feelings that the experience gives us. Whenever we decide whether to go or not to go to a coffee shop, these feelings push us into a position that we are WILLING TO PAY for the experience and the coffee, food and other drinks will just become tangential.

It's kinda like going to Timezone, spending P100 and getting a pencil case from the tickets you've earned. What's different is that Timezone doesn't hide under the cloak of being a school supply store or a toy store. It IS a recreational center. So you pay for the experience. Coffee shops pretend to sell coffee, pasta and homemade drinks.

We're doomed!

Men are insensitive. (giggles)

2008-08-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

Funny anecdotes about men's usual lack for detail-minding and sensitivity (sometimes).

Shirt Change

Last week, I went out with a guy for a movie. We both wanted to enter the movie house just before the trailers start so we walked around the mall for awhile to target the movie schedules good. I wore a bright orange blouse. (So bright I looked like an early warning device.) After the movie, I told him I wanted to go to the CR. I changed into a blue-and-gray striped blouse and when I got back, HE DID NOT SAY ANYTHING! He did not even react. His face was like, normal. I rolled my eyes many times that day.

A Clueless YM Conversation

Bitchvarsity: My head is aching and my PC unit is screwing up. I might not be able to finish my work. Gawd!
Guy: Okay. Just buzz me when you're done.

Haha. Eh "Guy" can totally do my work for me. He's a writer too. And that time, I only needed 120 words more. However, it took very long for him to offer. Haha. It was a crazy experiment. But my headache was a killer too.

Did You Cut Your Hair?

I cut my hair once a month and the guy I'm going out with for almost a year doesn't realize 80% of the time. Also, when he thinks there's something "different with the way I look", he assumes it's the earrings. Naivete at its finest.

"Why do you like shopping so much?"

Irrelevant question. Zip.

Instant Pick-me-Uppers

2008-08-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

1. Chocolate Mousse
When I was in Iloilo, participating at the most stressful tournament I ever had (I was sick and weak), Bruneson always wanted to eat Chocolate mousse everytime a day ends. I always brushed his request off my shoulder because it sounded pathetic. I mean, how can a sugarful dessert scoop me out of that dirt? I kept feeling worse each day. I got 2 rounds of full body massage and still I'm not feeling better. When we were at the Iloilo airport for our flight back to Davao, Ria bought a slice of Chocolate Mousse. I took one bite off, and man, it's like a wave crashed towards me, tipping me over, breaking me apart and bringing me back in one piece...as if I was whole from the start. It made me forget that my breakfast was inadequate. It made me feel good about coming back home. It made me realize that I have other chances of improving myself in other tournaments. From now on, I will be associating Chocolate mousse with positive stimuli. I hope you do to.

2. Uptown Girl
There's something so happy, inviting and relieving with this song. If you listen to it (the Westlife version), it shows traces of theatrics, the way the voices blend and how the words being used can easily paint images. Moreover, what I like about this song is that it talks about love/infatuation at its simplest sense, using the simplest words and expressions.

3. Wearing Super Light Blush On
Everytime I feel sick, I feel like I look like a mess even if I dip my head in conditioner. What I do to feel better is that I wear light blush on, a shade which blends perfectly with my skin. It's the classic no-make-up makeup, and it works everytime. People come up to me and say there's something that looks "pleasant" in my face but they can't really pinpoint which. When they finally give up, I just tell them I tweezed my brows. Neat, huh?

4. Hannah Montana
I just love this kid. A lot of people think Hannah Montana is a "shallow" show; it's satirical, tween-focused and West-hugging. With these in mind, it makes watching Hannah Montana (and loving her!) one of the easiest things in the world. Nonetheless, it's funny! The characters and circumstances are exaggerated, yes, and that's just the perfect break you need in a haste-driven world. Give it a try. I got two seasons down already.

Habits which can make you FAT

2008-07-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

-from healthassist.net

TV Watching
Prolonged TV watching is a strong predictor for obesity1. Recent research2 has proved that people who watch around two hours of TV per day are much more likely to be overweight than those who watched only half an hour per day. When you watch TV you are virtually motionless. Your heart rate, blood pressure and metabolic rate decline, resulting in burning 20 to 30 calories less per hour. Research by Harvard University4 has shown that there is a link between the amount children eat and the amount of television they watch.

Eating Too Fast
It is a habit of most people living in a fast paced society. Eating fast lets you eat too much before you are fully aware of it. It takes the brain about 15-20 minutes to start signaling feelings of fullness. Scientists suppose that fast eating is a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome3, a combination of the symptoms such as high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance.

Task Snacking
Task snacking refers to eating while doing other activities. if you often eat meals or snacks while working by yourself in front of your computer, while driving, watching TV, or standing at the kitchen counter, shopping with a friend, or talking on the phone, it's likely that the "task snacking" eating style is increasing your odds of becoming overweight or obese.

Frequent Fast Food Consumption
One of the big reasons we’re seeing more obesity in our society these days is that we are too stressed and busy to make healthy dinners at home, often opting to get fast food at the nearest drive-thru instead. Fast foods compromise the quality of the diet by replacing more healthy foods. Fast foods are known for having high content of saturated and trans-fat, low content of fiber and massive portion sizes, which leads to obesity.

Eating To Manage Feelings
Emotional eating is the practice of consuming large quantities of food (usually "comfort" or junk foods) in response to feelings (such as depression, anxiety, or loneliness) instead of hunger. Experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions. How many times have you found yourself scouring the kitchen for a snack, or absently munching on junk food when you’re stressed, but not really hungry?

Too Busy To Exercise
With all the demands on your schedule, exercise may be one of the last things on your to-do list. If so, you’re not alone. Americans live a more sedentary lifestyle than we have in past generations, yet our minds seem to be racing from everything we have to do. Unfortunately, from sitting in traffic, clocking hours at our desks, and plopping in front of the TV in exhaustion at the end of the day, exercise often goes by the wayside. Your Friends Can Make You Fat If you're putting on weight, you might want to take a look at who you're hanging around with. A study7 published in the July 26, 2007 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that obesity may be "socially contagious." The study was conducted on more than 12,000 people over 32 years, and concluded that having an overweight friend, sibling or spouse increased one's risk of obesity by 37 to 57 percent.

Lack Of Sleep
Sleep deprivation can increase your risk of obesity by boosting ghrelin (an appetite stimulating hormone) and lowering leptin (an appetite suppressor). The study5 from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom found that, compared to an eight hours of shut-eye, each one-hour decrease in sleep duration was linked to almost 3% more body fat. Unaware Of Calories And Fat Many people eat foods with no idea of the calorie or fat value. This leads to weight gain and unhealthy eating habits because you can easily consume twice the normal calories required to maintain your weight, let alone lose weight, if you don't know how many calories you are eating.

Credit Cards
Your plastic may be affecting more than just your credit score. Visa conducted a study of 100,000 fast-food restaurant transactions and found that people who pay for their food with a credit card spend 30% more than those who pay with cash. For the average woman, who visits a fast-food restaurant once a week, that adds an extra 17,160 calories, or 4.9 pounds, per year.

Missing Meals
Research shows that people who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight, and that morning meals seem to help those who've lost weight keep it off. Denise Bruner, MD, obesity specialist and former president of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, says that skipping meals of any kind results in a "tremendous bout of compensatory hunger."

Uncomfortable Clothing
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse6 found that casual and comfortable clothing workdays promote increased physical activity. Specifically, study participants took an average of 491 (or 8%) more steps on Jeans Day than on those days in which they wore normal business attire. It is also estimated that study participants burned an average of 25 additional calories on Jeans Day with the extra steps and miles walked. Wearing casual clothing every day for 50 weeks of work translates into burning an additional 125 calories per week and 6,250 calories per year.

Neglecting Scales
Recent study from the University of Minnesota found that dieters who weighed themselves daily lost about 12 pounds over two years, while those who never did shed only four pounds. Other research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, concluded that those who have daily weigh-ins (along with face-to-face support) are 82% less likely to regain five pounds than a control group without weigh-ins or support. Boredom A survey by the Priory Group in the U.K. found that more people ate when bored than when stressed.

---------------
I'm done with people saying they can't do it. You can do it! Be sensitive of these habits, shake them off you and make me your benchmark. *insert wicked laugh here* I'm only guilty of eating fast. hehe

Little things that make bitches happy

2008-07-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

-Getting a new haircut. There's just something so liberating about changing the way you look, your morning routine, your shampoo budget.
Tip: Don't shampoo everyday. It strips off the natural moisture in your hair. Instead, condition everyday. It's milder than shampoo and relatively has more nutrients.

-Buying new shoes. No explanation needed.
Tip: Buy shoes in the afternoon. We have bigger feet during the afternoon.

-Flirting harmlessly. Now, now. Continue reading without that goofy smile on your face. I know, right? It's the rush we're after! It's the electricity flowing up and down your spine, in a zigzag manner, in meek explosions. It's a re-affirmation of your power over the opposite (or same!) sex. Ahlavet! Hahaha!
Tip: Eyelash-batting is so old school. Start a witty conversation instead.

-Curling up with a good (bitchy or non-bitchy) book. The normal life of a bitch is usually hectic, so reading a good book with 0% disturbance is equivalent to New Year celebration.
Tip: Reading girl-y classics (e.g. Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Feminine Mystique) gets you in touch with your inner goddess.

-Having a nice conversation with a long-time girlfriend over a mixed drink. The simple act of holding a glass on your hand while chatting is ultimately relaxing. It's like time never existed. Catch up with your love lives, your careers and whatever's hot. Yes, even the bartender.
Tip: Beware of getting drunk. Be sure that when you go home, the flush on your face should be composed of 90% sheer joyand 10% alcohol.

-Blogging. Total empowerment. The most pitiful thing in the world is a person without an opinion.
Tip: Write and rewrite! You're posting in an invisible world, I know. But don't give us bullshit. Hitting the X key at the upper right corner just takes 0.5 seconds.

Bastards on Commute

2008-07-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

I like taking the public utility jeepneys because I enjoy the experience. The feeling of the wind on your face, of "meeting" ten different people in one sitting and of course, the feeling of helping cut down the carbon emissions. *Duh*

However, there are certain people which turns the experience sour.

1. Slimy Lovebirds - Nah-ah. I'm not jealous. I've been going out with the same guy for about ten months and we're fine. There are just some lovers who take the jeepney and then crawl over each other as if they're at their own living rooms. They're pains in the eyeballs. Instead of them being ashamed of themselves, you become ashamed of "intruding" something. Bah. I hope they don't forget to pay their fares.

2. Ms./Mr. Loudspeaker - It's okay to talk; it's not okay if you're heard for about five seats away. I hate having to share the jeepney with someone who talks and talks and talks all throughout the ride and competing with the noise of the midday streets. These are the times when I'd wish I had an MP3 player with me.

3. Open-SesaMEN - These are men who refuse to shut their legs together even when the jeepney is too crowded and the people who just arrived sit uncomfortably. Let's be sensitive guys. The jeepney is designed for a certain number of people WHO ARE EXPECTED TO KEEP THEIR LEGS SHUT. To all the males reading this post, keep your legs shut for Goddess' sake. But if you don't want to, I hope your balls will get hit during the ride.

4. Ms./Mr. Head-to-Foot - Although I am confident that whenever I go out of the house I always smell good and look fine, there are just some people who fail to maximize their free time wallowing in their ugliness that they just have to want to make you feel it too. I'm talking about those people (mostly girls) who spend the whole ride staring at you, from your hair to your toenails to your bag to your cell phone model. I don't really know what's wrong with them. Or is it their first time to see a real, live human being?

5. The Classic Manyakis - Oh you know them. They're the ones who will stare at you and automatically commit simulated rape. They will salivate with just a peek of your toes and they love staring at your lips. Tip: Dress comfortably when taking the jeepney. Spare your skin from the prying eyes of these psycho-sexual predators.

The Dissected Movie + Dinner Date

2008-07-10T07:32:00.000-07:00

THE MOVIE

The movie's purpose is to know how smart your date is. If s/he picks a "mababaw" movie or an action movie, a love story, it's up to you to judge. It may either a.) reflect his/her real taste in movies or b.) reflect HOW S/HE WANTS YOU TO PERCEIVE HIM/HER. After you pick the movie, you also buy food. When buying food, you can judge if s/he's a healthy eater or not.

While you are watching the movie (1 1/2 hours on average), you can gauge if s/he's talkative or quiet and more importantly, if s/he understands the plot well. If s/he keeps on asking you questions, I suggest an IQ test. You can also gauge how comfortable s/he is with you by the way s/he laughs along or tells you about his/her little ideas/comments.

Lastly, the purpose of the movie is to make sure that you will have something to talk about during dinner.

THE DINNER

While choosing which place to eat, you can gauge the likes(and dislikes) of your date. You may even predict his/her typical order there. Aside from that, you will also find out how high- or low-maintenance s/he is.

If your date is already comfortable with you, s/he will sit next to you in a four-seated square table. If s/he wants to know you more, s/he will sit across you. If it's the first date, most likely, s/he will sit across you.

This is the gala. During the dinner, you will get to know your date more. You can judge the if s/he has good manners (calling the waiter, not staying too long in the CR, saying sorry if s/he stepped on your toe). You will also find out what makes him/her tick. How? Well, it's sure that the first few minutes of your date will be devoted to discussing the movie. However, there will be sparks of interest somewhere, and then the talk will be taking detours.

What is important is that you enjoy yourself no matter what. After all, you've invested in it! However, if you feel like calling 911 everytime s/he starts talking, by all means, consider my IQ test suggestion. (Drug test is optional.)

(Bitchy) Quotes to live by..

2008-07-06T21:09:00.001-07:00

Be sexy;
Even if others are not
Even if others will not
Even if others can not

Life is not a matter of chance but a matter of boys.

Flirt your best and he will do the rest.

Believe in love at first bite.

Simplicity means poverty.

and my favorite,
Beauty is the best publicity.

Lol. (Laugh out loud.) That's a command.

Most Commonly Misused English Words/Phrases

2008-07-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

Stuffs
"I love music, movies and all those stuffs..."
I've heard (and read) a lot of people who use this word to mean "those things". It's so, so annoying. I can't even fathom how annoying it is to hear this word. Stuff is already a "collective" noun used to refer to different things such as

"She knows her stuff."
"A bed filled with the softest stuff." Etcetera etcetera.

You will only use "stuffs" when you refer to it as verb. Get it? A.Verb. Like, "Kyle stuffs the pizza down his throat."

Tuck In/ Tuck Out
"Tuck in your shirt; it looks so ugly tucked out."
Hello?! If something is already tucked, it's in! The word tuck is a verb which means to put into a small, close and concealing place. And tuck out is an oxymoron. How do you make something put into a small, close and concealing place look like it's outside? Oh, you get it.

Irregardless
"It's final. You will come with me irregardless of the circumstances."
It's utterly redundant. The prefix ir-means something "not" (example: irresponsible, irregular). The suffix -less also mean something "not" (example: careless, powerless). The correct word is regardless; since there is no word such as irregard. It's pains to hear this word uttered in movies and even in debates. Sigh.

Equipments
"The equipments are ready. You can start bulldozing now."
Like stuff, equipment is also collective. When I say equipment, it means the whole assisting machines. Simply put, there is no such word as equipments. Remember that.

Hello World

2008-07-03T08:10:00.001-07:00

This blog is all about the face of the 21st Century Bitch.

The meaning of the word "bitch" has evolved through time. Before, it was merely used to refer to a female dog. After that, it became a derogatory term to connote something disgusting, abnormal or deviant.

According to http://www.wikipedia.com/, It is also frequently used as an offensive term for a malicious, spiteful, domineering, intrusive, or unpleasant person, especially a woman. This second meaning has been in use since around 1400. When used to describe a male, it may also confer the meaning of "subordinate", especially to another male, as in prison. Generally, this term is used to indicate that the person is acting outside the confines of their gender roles, such as when women are assertive or aggressive, or when men are passive or servile. More recent variants of bitch are bitchy, ill-tempered (1925), and to bitch, to complain (1930).

As I write, the term bitch will be used to refer to the smart, strong and assertive woman who ventures the world with mascara on.

Cheers. =)